误会
wùhuì · HSK 4
misunderstanding
❓ 误 (mistake) + 会 (meet/understand) = a mistaken understanding
误 means error or mistake; 会 means to meet or to grasp/understand. Together they literally form mistake-understanding, i.e. a misunderstanding. The tones go down-down (wù-huì), both fourth tone.
误 — speech radical 讠 + 吴 wú (phonetic)
误 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (speech) hints at meaning—originally tied to mistaken or misleading words—while 吴 supplies the sound. Over time it broadened from verbal errors to any mistake, delay, or harm caused by error.
会 — 人 person on top + 云 cloud/say below (simplified from 會)
The traditional form 會 showed a lid over a vessel with contents stacked inside, depicting things coming together — hence 'meet, gather, assemble.' From 'gathering' it extended to 'meeting,' then 'understand' (minds meeting) and 'be able to.' The simplified 会 keeps only a schematic top and bottom.