领会
lǐng huì · HSK 7
to understand
💡 领 lead/receive + 会 know-how = lead your mind to receive the know-how → grasp it
领 (lǐng) means to lead or receive; 会 (huì) means can or know-how. Together: you receive and take in the know-how of an idea, i.e. you comprehend it. Pinyin lǐng huì keeps the same order as English lead-into-knowing.
领 — 令 (command, phonetic) + 页 (head)
A semantic-phonetic compound. 页 (head/page) gives the meaning, originally referring to the neck or collar — the part connecting the head to the body. 令 supplies the sound. From 'neck/collar' it extended to 'lead, guide, receive,' since the neck leads the body.
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.