缺席
quēxí · HSK 7
be absent (from meeting/etc.)
🪑 缺 lack + 席 seat = the seat is empty, someone is absent
缺 means to lack or be short of; 席 is a seat or place at a table. A lacked seat is an absence — nobody filled that spot at the meeting.
缺 — 缶 (jar) + 夬 (phonetic)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: the 缶 component depicts an earthenware jar, while 夬 supplies the sound. The character first referred to a broken or chipped pot, then broadened to mean 'lacking,' 'missing,' or 'deficient' in general.
席 — 广 (shelter) + 巾 (cloth), over woven mat 苫
Originally a pictograph of a woven mat or rush mat used for sitting on the floor, with 巾 (cloth) hinting at the woven material under a shelter 广. Because guests were seated on such mats, 席 extended to mean 'seat,' 'place at a banquet,' and later any 'seat' or 'membership' in a group.