administer

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 司 conveys being in charge of or administering something; its on-reading is し.
• Basic usage: 司会, read しかい, means hosting or conducting a gathering or event. The character is also read し in the food name 寿司, whose full reading is すし.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• The hosting role and the host
  • 司会を頼まれた means being asked to host an event.
  • In 司会の合図, 司会 refers to the host, and the phrase means that person's signal.