規制
きせい · kisei · JLPT N3 · noun
regulation
🚦📏 規制 = rule (規) + control (制): rules that control
規 means a standard or rule, as in 規則 (kisoku, rule). 制 means control or system, as in 制度 (seido, system). Put rules and control together and you get regulation. As a sound hook, kisei sounds like key say: the official with the key says what is allowed.
制 — knife 刂 + 未 (tree branches)
Originally depicted a knife 刂 cutting branches from a tree, showing the act of trimming or shaping wood. From this concrete sense of cutting to size came the meanings 'to make,' 'to manufacture,' and by extension 'to control' or 'regulate' — shaping things to a desired form.