Several parts combine into one character.

台 in its modern shape combines 厶 and 口 (mouth), but it is really the result of several characters merging into one. The simplified and shinjitai 台 unifies the traditional 臺 (a raised earthen platform / tower) together with 颱 (typhoon), 檯 (table/desk), and 邰 (a place name) into a single graph. So one 台 carries "platform, stage, typhoon, table" all at once.

The form splits: traditional (ko/en/es) uses 臺 for the platform sense, while shinjitai (ja) and simplified (zh) use 台.

Korean hanja-sound "dae" (also "tae"): 舞臺 (mudae, stage), 土臺 (todae, foundation), 燈臺 (deungdae, lighthouse), 寢臺 (chimdae, bed), 展望臺 (jeonmangdae, observation deck), 臺風 (taepung, typhoon). Korea uses the traditional 臺 for the platform sense.

Mandarin: tái, 2nd tone. 台 (tái, platform/stage), 舞台 (wǔtái, stage), 台湾 (Táiwān, Taiwan), 一台电脑 (yì tái diànnǎo, one computer — the measure word for machines), 台风 (táifēng, typhoon — the source of English "typhoon").

Japanese: on-readings ダイ (dai) and タイ (tai) — no kun-reading. 台 (dai, stand), 舞台 (butai, stage), 台所 (daidokoro, kitchen), 一台 (ichidai, one unit), 台風 (taifū, typhoon). Machines and vehicles are counted 一台, 二台.

Memory aid: a single stand — the traditional 臺 (a tall terrace) that, simplified, absorbed several characters into 台.