会計
かいけい · kaikei · JLPT N3 · noun
history
🧾💴 会計 = meet + measure: gathering the numbers to count them up
会 means meet or gather and 計 means measure or count, as in 時計 (clock). Putting the figures together and totting them up gives you accounting. In a restaurant, お会計 is the bill: say お会計お願いします to ask for the check.
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.