certificate / proof / to prove / to demonstrate / to confirm / variant of 症[zheng4]
证
=
正
+
讠
:
James II of England (zh) is not allowed to stay any longer in the engine, so in the bathroom ((e)ng4) he forges a visa (证) so he can stay. On an advertising column (讠) he scribbles his fake visa, but (like me) he sucks at drawing, so he is only able to draw a stick figure (正) where his photo should go.
straight / upright / proper / main / principal / to correct / to rectify / exactly / just (at that time) / right (in that place) / (math.) positive
正
=
一
+
止
:
Mnemonic symbol: a stick-figure with straight lines. James II of England (zh) really has to use the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4), but there's a stick-figure (正) blocking the stalls with a barrier (止). The stick-figure measures with a flute (一) whether James is tall enough to go. James stands very straight (正) to make himself as tall as possible.
"speech" or "words" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 149) / see also 言字旁[yan2 zi4 pang2]
Mnemonic symbol: this character looks like a big "i" (like in information), and I'll represent it by an advertising column. Maud Younger (y) gives a speech (讠) standing on top of an advertising column (讠) in the anthill's kitchen (an2).
Characters with 证 as component
证
is not used as a component in another character.
to do textual research / to make textual criticism / to verify by means of research (esp. historical details) / to take an exam to get a certificate (abbr. for 考取證件|考取证件[kao3 qu3 zheng4 jian4])