匹敵
ひってき · hitteki · JLPT N1 · noun
rival
🥊 匹 = match, equal + 敵 = rival: a rival who is your equal
匹 can mean a match or an equal, and 敵 means enemy or rival. Together they describe a rival who matches you evenly, so 匹敵する means to rival or equal someone.
匹 — cliff 厂 + 儿 (legs/person)
匹 originally pictured a folded bolt of cloth, with the strokes representing the fabric draped and tied. From this came the meaning 'a bolt of cloth' as a measure word. It was later extended to count horses and other animals, and to mean 'match' or 'mate', as paired bolts were of equal length.