立ち寄る
たちよる · tachiyoru · JLPT N1 · verb-godan
to stop by
🚪 立つ (stand, pause) + 寄る (drop by) = pause on the way and drop by a place
立ち寄る combines 立つ (to stand, to stop) and 寄る (to approach, to drop by). Together they mean pausing on your route to call in somewhere briefly.
立 — person standing on ground (大 over 一)
Pictograph of a person standing with arms outstretched on the ground line below. The original oracle bone form clearly shows a frontal human figure planted on the earth. The core meaning 'to stand' extended to 'establish, set up, erect.'
寄 — roof 宀 + strange 奇 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the roof radical 宀 suggests a dwelling or shelter, while 奇 (qí) supplies the sound, shifted to jì. The original sense was to lodge or stay temporarily under someone's roof, which extended to entrusting, depositing, and eventually sending or mailing things to another's care.