Deal With, Process, Place

Interesting Fact

The character 処 has an interesting semantic history. Its older form 處 contained a component associated with a place or dwelling and developed the sense of settling, handling, or putting something in the appropriate place. That idea survives in modern Japanese. 処理（しょり） means “processing” or “handling,” while 処分（しょぶん） means “disposal.” Both carry the underlying idea of deciding what should happen to something and dealing with it appropriately.