找

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 找 (zhǎo) is composed of two parts: the radical 手 (shǒu), which means "hand," and the phonetic component 召 (zhào), which means "to call" or "to summon." The character 找 literally means "to use the hand to call," and it is often used in the sense of "to look for" or "to search for."The earliest known use of the character 找 dates back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC), when it was used in the sense of "to summon" or "to invite." Over time, the meaning of the character gradually shifted to "to look for" or "to search for," and it is now one of the most common Chinese characters used in this sense.The character 找 can also be used in a figurative sense, to mean "to try" or "to attempt." For example, the phrase 找工作 (zhǎo gōngzuò) means "to look for a job," while the phrase 找麻烦 (zhǎo máfan) means "to cause trouble."The character 找 is a versatile character that can be used in a variety of contexts. It is an important character for HSK learners to know, as it is one of the most common Chinese characters used in everyday speech.