設

Components:

言 (speech, words) – semantic element, suggesting something expressed, declared, or planned;

殳 (halberd, striking weapon) – phonetic element, providing the sound “설” and possibly implying “action” or “setting up” something.

Small Seal Script (小篆): The form appears already standardized here.

Original meaning: “to put in place,” “to plant,” “to set down.”

Shares roots with 藝 (재주 예) via the older form 埶, which originally meant “to plant, to cultivate.”

Over time, 設 took over the sense of “to set up or establish,” while 藝 shifted toward meanings of “skill” or “art.”

設立 (설립) – to found, to establish (a company, institution);

設備 (설비) – equipment, facilities;

設計 (설계) – design, layout;

假設 (가설) – hypothesis, assumption;

設宴 (설연) – to set up a banquet.