會

There are three major theories about the origin of 會.

1️. Food vessel theory (originally meant sashimi):

亼 (lid) + 曰/口 (bowl/dish) + meat depicted in between.

Originally depicted a dish of raw fish or meat (膾). Later it was borrowed for the idea of gathering.

2️. Cooking pot theory:

Depicts a pot with lid and ingredients inside – leading to the meaning “to collect/put together,” which evolved into “to gather.”

3️. Assembly theory (phonetic/semantic blend):

亼 (gather) or 人 (people) + abbreviated form of 曾 (often seen in early scripts) meaning “again/repeatedly,” representing the coming together of people.

會議 (회의) – “meeting, conference”

社會 (사회) – “society”

機會 (기회) – “opportunity”