会社 (huì shè) — company, corporation, commercial firm

Definition

会社 means 'company / firm' — a neutral, somewhat formal term common in Mainland business writing. At HSK 7 level it is largely a literary equivalent of 公司, which is the everyday word for 'company'.

noun
companycorporationcommercial firm
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 会社。
    Zhè jiā huì shè shì rì běn yǒu míng de diàn zǐ qǐ yè.
    This company is a famous Japanese electronics enterprise.
  • 会社。
    Tā zài yì jiā dà xíng mào yì huì shè gōng zuò.
    He works at a large trading company.
  • 会社。
    Zhè jiā huì shè de chuàng shǐ rén shì yí wèi huá rén.
    The founder of this company is a Chinese person.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

会huìassociation
社shèsociety

会 and 社 both denote organized bodies, and together they name a commercial firm.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

社 joins 示 (god; deity) and 土 (soil), so its shape is about the god of the land.

Open 社 →

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