受付
うけつけ · uketsuke · JLPT N4 · noun
reception desk
🛎️ 受付 = receive (受) + attach/hand over (付): where you hand things in
From the verb 受け付ける (uketsukeru), to accept or take in. 受 means receive and 付 means attach or hand over, so the front desk is literally the receive-and-hand-over spot. Sound hook: uke = receive, tsuke = attach.
受 — hand 爫 (top) + 冖 + hand 又 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing two hands passing an object (the middle 冖 represented a boat or tray) between them. It depicted the act of giving and receiving, so the character meant both 'to give' and 'to receive.' Later 授 was created with the hand radical 扌 to mean 'give,' leaving 受 to mean 'receive' or 'accept.'
付 — person radical 亻 + hand 寸
付 originally pictured a hand (寸) reaching out to hand something to a person (亻), depicting the act of giving or delivering. The core sense 'to hand over, deliver, pay' has remained stable since ancient bronze inscriptions. It also serves as a phonetic component in characters like 附, 符, and 府.