破壊

はかい · hakai · JLPT N1 · noun

destruction

🔨 破 = break + 壊 = collapse/wreck: destruction is breaking, then collapsing

Both characters share the idea of ruin: 破 (ha) means break or tear, and 壊 (kai) means collapse or wreck. Together they name total destruction.

破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'

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