shè
noun HSK 5 #5,266

Meanings

  1. 1 society; organization
  2. 2 agency; association

Examples

Shèhuì zài bùduàn biànhuà.
Society is constantly changing.
Tā zài yījiā lǚxíngshè gōngzuò.
He works at a travel agency.

Tips

usage
appears in 社会 (shèhuì, society), 社区 (shèqū, community), 旅行社 (lǚxíngshè, travel agency), 出版社 (chūbǎnshè, publishing house), 社交 (shèjiāo, social interaction).

Components

radical
shì
altar; spirit (radical form of 示)
Left-side spirit radical — the indexing radical, the side-form of , depicting an altar table with a hanging banner. Marks as religious in origin: it originally named the altar to the local earth-god, the focal point of every village. Same family: (deity), (ancestor), (blessing), (pray), (rites).
semantic
earth; soil
Right-side earth — names the deity worshipped at this altar: the local 土地, the earth-god protecting the village's farmland. A was the shared shrine where neighbors gathered for harvest rites, which is why the word generalized from 'earth-altar' to 'community, society, association'. Pure semantic, no sound contribution.

Stroke Order

shè