Several parts combine into one character.

Traditional 會: a lid (亼) above a vessel containing grain — the encoded meaning is "scattered things gathered in one container". The metaphor extends naturally: people gathering = a meeting. Three forms — 繁體 會 / 新字体 会 / 简体 会, with simplification converging on the same simpler shape.

会 / 會 anchors the entire vocabulary of meetings, organizations, and assembly: 会議 / 会议 (meeting), 会社 (company — Japan/Korea; Mandarin uses 公司), 机会 / 機會 (opportunity — "occasion to meet"), 宴会 (banquet), 国会 (national assembly), 同窓会 (alumni reunion), 协会 / 協會 (association).

Mandarin: huì, falling 4th tone. 会 covers meetings AND a critical grammatical function — modal "to know how to / to be able to": 我会说中文 (wǒ huì shuō Zhōngwén, "I can speak Chinese"). This is a foundational Mandarin grammar pattern. Other compounds: 会议 (huìyì, meeting), 开会 (kāihuì, hold a meeting), 机会 (jīhuì, opportunity), 一会儿 (yīhuìr, a moment / a while), 会话 (huìhuà, conversation), 会员 (huìyuán, member).

Japanese: TWO on-readings split by Buddhist vs. secular tradition. カイ (kai) is dominant — 会社 (kaisha, company — one of the foundational nouns of Japanese business life), 会議 (kaigi, meeting), 会員 (kaiin, member), 学会 (gakkai, academic conference), 機会 (kikai, opportunity), 国会 (kokkai, National Diet — Japan's parliament), 同窓会 (dōsōkai, alumni reunion). エ (e) appears in Buddhist compounds — 法会 (hōe, Buddhist service). Kun-reading あ.う (a.u, to meet) — 会う (au) is one of the most-used Japanese verbs.

The Japanese 会社員 (kaishain, company employee / "salaryman") embodies the entire postwar Japanese economic identity through this single character.

Memory aid: a vessel with a lid containing gathered grains — what gathers, meets.