見舞い

みまい · mimai · JLPT N3 · noun

sympathy

💐 見 see + 舞い going round = going round to check on someone

見舞い is visiting or checking on someone who is ill or has had bad luck, and it covers the get-well gifts and kind words too. お見舞い申し上げます is a set phrase for offering sympathy.

舞 — dancer with tassels 無 + opposing feet 舛
舞 is a pictograph of a person dancing while holding ox-tail tassels or feathered streamers in both hands; the upper part 無 originally depicted the dancer with ornaments, and 舛 below shows two feet stepping in opposite directions. When 無 was borrowed to mean 'not/none,' 舛 was added to preserve the original 'dance' meaning.

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