faction, group, party, clique, sect, school
派 centers on a branching-off of people or ideas: a faction, group, party, or school that splits from a larger whole. The meanings clique and sect are natural extensions of a distinct subgroup.
派 combines 氵 (water) with a right side that historically represents a branching stream or tributary, giving the idea of a division or offshoot. The modern right side is a simplification of an older form.
The left side is water 氵, and the right side looks like a river splitting into branches. Picture a main river dividing into smaller streams, each becoming its own faction or school of thought.
For ハ, imagine a political faction laughing 'Ha!' as they break away from the main party: Ha -> ハ, and the water branches off into separate groups.
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group; faction; clique; coterie
dispatch; despatch; deployment
splendid; fine; handsome; elegant; imposing; prominent; impressive
showy; loud; flashy; gaudy
seducer; smooth talker; ladies' man; playboy; playgirl
derivation
clique; faction
left wing
one school; one sect; one denomination
right wing
sect; denomination
dispatch of troops
hard-liners; diehards; hawks
faction; party; clique
school (of painting, ikebana, etc.)
branch office
suprapartisan; multiparty; bipartisan; nonpartisan
Shia (Islam)
the other group
new school (of thought, etc.)
old school; old style
unaffiliated voters; floating voters; swinging voters
(special) correspondent (e.g. for a newspaper)