社会
しゃかい · shakai · JLPT N4 · noun
society
🏢 社会 = shrine gathering (社) + meeting (会)
社 first meant a shrine to the local earth god, then the group gathered around it. 会 means to meet. A community that meets = society. Same two kanji flipped give 会社 (kaisha), company.
社 — 示 (altar/spirit) + 土 (earth)
Originally referred to the god of the soil and the altar where villagers worshipped it. The 示 component signals ritual or spirits, while 土 means earth, together evoking a community shrine. The meaning later broadened to 'community' and 'society'.
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.