泰晤士报 (Tài wù shì bào) — The Times (newspaper)

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

泰 combines 大 for sound with 廾 (two hands) and 水 (water), showing hands handling water or something slippery.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 報; 报 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 報 puts 㚔 (handcuffs) beside 𠬝 (to subdue), showing someone restrained and subdued, as in convicting or punishing a guilty person. The simplified 报 is a later shorthand.