固定
こてい · kotei · JLPT N1 · noun
arrested development
🔩 固 = solid/firm + 定 = settle: something firmly settled in place is fixed (kotei)
Common compounds: 固定資産 (fixed assets), 固定電話 (landline, a phone fixed to one place), 固定給 (fixed salary). The 固 part is a 'solid' radical, and 定 means settle or decide.
定 — roof 宀 + 正 (correct/upright, phonetic)
Originally written with 宀 (roof) over 正 (upright/correct), suggesting a household settled and orderly under its roof. Over time 正 simplified to 㐬-like form at the bottom, and the meaning shifted from 'settled home' to the broader senses of 'fix, stable, decide.'