契

1. Material/Legal: A tally, deed, contract, or written bond; the physical object used to verify an obligation.

2. Technical: To engrave or carve.

3. Relational: To fit together, to coincide, or to be in accord.

• Noun: A contract, a tally, or evidence of a covenant.
• Transitive Verb: To engrave; to establish a formal agreement or covenant.
• Intransitive/Stative Verb: To match, align, or be compatible.

• Contrast with 刻 (kè): While both involve carving, 契 emphasizes the purpose of the mark (the bond or the match) over the physical act of engraving itself.
• Semantic Neighborhood: In determining nuance, contrast 契 with 合 (hé), which denotes the result of two things fitting together (union), and 盟 (méng), which denotes the social or political purpose of a bond (alliance/covenant).

The glyph originates from the act of notching or engraving wood (木), specifically referring to the practice of carving an agreement into bamboo or wood and splitting it so that the two halves served as matching tokens.

Avoid over-legalization: Modern usage strongly favors "legal contract," but in ancient philosophical or mystical texts, the glyph often denotes a conceptual alignment or "fitting together." In non-administrative contexts, prioritize senses of compatibility or harmony.