事务所
shìwùsuǒ · HSK 7
office
🏢 事务 (affairs) + 所 (place) = the place where business affairs get handled
事 means affairs/matters, 务 also means duties/affairs, so 事务 together is business/affairs; 所 is a place or premises (same 所 as in 厕所). Stack them: a premises for handling business — an office.
事 — hand 又 holding a banner/tablet on a pole
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) grasping a pole or ceremonial banner used by an official, depicting the act of conducting court business. From this it came to mean 'affair, matter, business, service.' It shares an ancient origin with 史 (scribe) and 吏 (official).
所 — door 戶 (left) + axe 斤 (right)
Originally a sound: an axe (斤) chopping wood near a door (戶), with 戶 also hinting at the pronunciation. Over time it was borrowed to mean 'place' or 'location,' and later became a grammatical particle nominalizing verbs ('that which…'). The concrete 'chopping' sense faded entirely.