勘定
かんじょう · kanjou · JLPT N3 · noun
consideration
🧾🧮 勘定 = check (勘) + settle (定): tally it up and settle it
勘 means to check or examine, as in 勘違い (a misjudgment). 定 means to fix or settle, as in 決定 (decision). In a restaurant, お勘定 is the bill: the staff check what you had and settle the total.
定 — roof 宀 + 正 (correct/upright, phonetic)
Originally written with 宀 (roof) over 正 (upright/correct), suggesting a household settled and orderly under its roof. Over time 正 simplified to 㐬-like form at the bottom, and the meaning shifted from 'settled home' to the broader senses of 'fix, stable, decide.'