莅 (lì) · to attend (an official function), to be present

Meanings

1 to attend (an official function)
2 to be present
3 to administer
4 to approach

Characters

莅

lì

to attend; to administer

Examples

HSK 5

总统亲自莅会发表讲话。

Zǒngtǒng qīnzì lì huì fābiǎo jiǎnghuà.

The president personally attended the meeting to give a speech.

HSK 7-9

欢迎各位领导莅临指导。

Huānyíng gèwèi lǐngdǎo lìlín zhǐdǎo.

We welcome the leaders to attend and offer guidance.

Tips

register

Highly formal and literary. You will almost always meet it in compounds such as 莅临 (to grace with one's presence) or 莅会 (to attend a meeting), used in event invitations and official notices.

memory

Top half 艹 (grass) over 位 (position): originally meant arriving at and overseeing one's post - the official 'taking position' on the ground.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant

Top grass radical (3-stroke compressed form) - the indexing radical. The botanical link in 莅 is loose: it's a graphic substitute that came to mark this formal verb of arrival rather than naming a plant. Originally the character described approaching or attending in a way that grew like vegetation around an event.

phonetic

位 wèi

position; standing

Bottom 位 supplies the sound: wèi shifted to lì historically. It also contributes meaning: 位 means 'position, post, place,' so 莅 reads as 'taking one's place' - fitting for a formal verb meaning to attend, to be present at, to administer. Common in 莅临 (to grace with one's presence).