追跡
ついせき · tsuiseki · JLPT N1 · noun
pursuit
🐾 追 (chase) + 跡 (trail) = pursuit: chasing someone by following their trail
追 means chase or run after. 跡 means trail, tracks or traces left behind. Together they describe following a trail to catch up with something or someone.
追 — 辶 (walk) + 𠂤 (small mound/heap)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 辶 ('walk/movement') gives the meaning of going after something, while 𠂤 supplied the ancient sound. Early bronze inscriptions show it meaning to chase or pursue an enemy. The modern senses — 'pursue,' 'chase after,' 'retroactively' — all extend from this original idea of following in motion.