折合
zhé hé · HSK 7
to amount to
🔄 折 convert/discount + 合 combine/total = convert and tally up to an equivalent amount
折 carries the sense of converting or discounting, and 合 means to combine or come to a total. Together they describe converting one quantity into another and seeing what it adds up to, hence to amount to or be equivalent to.
折 — hand 扌 + axe 斤
Originally written as 折 with a hand (扌) breaking or chopping something with an axe (斤), depicting the act of snapping or cutting in two. The core meaning 'to break, snap, fold' extends metaphorically to 'bend,' 'turn back,' and 'discount' (as in reducing a price by breaking off part).
合 — 乛 (lid/roof) + 口 (mouth)
Originally a pictograph of a lidded vessel — a cover (亼) closing over an opening (口) — giving the core sense of 'come together, join, fit.' From 'fit/match' it extended to 'combine, unite, agree' and to measure-word uses. The reading hé reflects this 'joining' meaning.