追い越す
おいこす · oikosu · JLPT N2 · verb-godan
to pass
🏎️🚗 追い越す = chase (追う) + go past (越す)
First you chase (追う, ou) the one ahead, then you go past them (越す, kosu). Together they mean to overtake, the word for passing a car on the road or pulling ahead of a rival.
追 — 辶 (walk) + 𠂤 (small mound/heap)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 辶 ('walk/movement') gives the meaning of going after something, while 𠂤 supplied the ancient sound. Early bronze inscriptions show it meaning to chase or pursue an enemy. The modern senses — 'pursue,' 'chase after,' 'retroactively' — all extend from this original idea of following in motion.
越 — 走 (run) + 戉 (axe, phonetic)
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 走 ('to run, go') gives the meaning of crossing or passing over, while 戉 (an ancient axe) supplies the sound. From 'to stride across' it extended to 'exceed, surpass,' and was later borrowed as the name of the ancient Yue state and people in southern China.