So while what's stated under the meaning of "kumite" on this website is still correct, there is a literal meaning. Now of course most people who practice Karate outside of Japan in an English speaking country would know it in the sense of "sparring". This isn't wrong, but it's not the exact meaning. If we break it up into parts, let's start with the easy one. 手 (て) means "hand". This same kanji is used in "karate" itself; 空手 which directly translates to "empty hand". I'm sure you can figure out which is which from that. Now with 組 (くみ), it would directly be read as "meeting". Now since there's no particle you can easily assume which English particle would be placed in between the two; this would be "of".
So after this extremely long explanation; the direct meaning of 組手 (くみて) is "meeting of hands". I'm sure it's understandable where the term "sparring" fits in with it.
組手 (くみて) Direct Meaning
So while what's stated under the meaning of "kumite" on this website is still correct, there is a literal meaning. Now of course most people who practice Karate outside of Japan in an English speaking country would know it in the sense of "sparring". This isn't wrong, but it's not the exact meaning. If we break it up into parts, let's start with the easy one. 手 (て) means "hand". This same kanji is used in "karate" itself; 空手 which directly translates to "empty hand". I'm sure you can figure out which is which from that. Now with 組 (くみ), it would directly be read as "meeting". Now since there's no particle you can easily assume which English particle would be placed in between the two; this would be "of".
So after this extremely long explanation; the direct meaning of 組手 (くみて) is "meeting of hands". I'm sure it's understandable where the term "sparring" fits in with it.
TLDR; 組手 (くみて) means "meeting of hands".