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The character 阖 (hé), simplified from 闔, is primarily a verb meaning to shut or close, particularly a door, and by extension an adjective meaning entire or whole. It is a phono-semantic compound: the semantic radical 门 (simplified from 門, mén) indicates its relation to doors or gateways, while the internal component 盍 (hé) provides the phonetic element. The sense of closing a door logically extended to encompass the idea of enclosing an entire household, leading to its formal usage to mean "the whole family", as in the greeting 阖家欢乐 (héjiā huānlè).
Etymology Hide
