過半数
かはんすう · kahansuu · JLPT N2 · noun
majority
🗳️ 過 (exceed) + 半 (half) + 数 (number) = the number that goes over half
Read it as exceed, half, number: the count that passes half of the total. Majority votes need more than half the ballots, so the ballot box fits.
半 — 八 (split) + 牛 (ox/cow)
半 originally depicted an ox (牛) being divided in two, shown by the splitting strokes 八 on top. The image of cleaving an ox down the middle gave rise to the meaning 'half' or 'to divide into halves'. The modern sense of 'half' or 'partial' comes directly from this ancient act of splitting.
数 — 婁 (lóu, phonetic) + 攵 (action radical)
数 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) suggests an action, originally tallying or counting by striking marks. The left side 婁 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to count' to 'number' and 'several'.