耐

Left indexing radical 而 — originally a pictograph of a hanging beard, now mostly used as the conjunction 'and'. Here it preserves the beard image: ancient punishment 耐 was the shaving of the beard, a milder humiliation than other corporal punishments — bearing it required endurance, hence 'to endure, withstand'.

Right-side 寸 (a hand with a marker just below the wrist — the pulse point). Carries the 'rule, measured action' nuance: a regulated hand applying a measured penalty. Same semantic in 守 (guard, by hand). Together with 而 it sketches the legal scene of beard-shaving as a calibrated punishment.