錄

錄 is a phono-semantic compound and simultaneously carries ideographic association:

金 (쇠 금) — “metal,” representing engraving or inscription on bronze tablets, signifying preservation.

彔 (새길 록) — phonetic element, also meaning “to carve, to engrave,” reinforcing the sense of recording.

Thus, the combined meaning is “to engrave on metal” → “to record permanently.”

記錄 (기록) — record, documentation

登錄 (등록) — registration, enrollment

收錄 (수록) — inclusion, compilation

錄用 (녹용) — employment, appointment

筆錄 (필록) — written record, transcript

錄音 (녹음) — sound recording

錄畫 (녹화) — video recording

錄取 (녹취) — admission, acceptance

實錄 (실록) — “True Record” (official chronicle)

In early Chinese administration, 錄 symbolized the official act of recording decrees and appointments on metal tablets or bamboo slips.

Hence phrases like 錄用 (recorded for employment) and 實錄 (true record) originated in imperial archives.

In Confucian culture, recording was viewed as an act of moral and historical preservation — to record truthfully was to ensure the continuation of virtue and governance.

With technological progress, the verb 錄 evolved from engraving to writing, and eventually to mechanical recording — as seen in modern compounds such as 錄音 (recording sound) and 錄影 (recording video), showing the term’s semantic continuity from preserving speech and deeds.