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召

zhào / Shào
verb #5,842

Meanings

  1. 1 to summon; to call together
  2. 2 to convene; to recruit

Examples

HSK 5
公司召开了紧急会议。
Gōngsī zhàokāi le jǐnjí huìyì.
The company convened an emergency meeting.
HSK 5
他被召回了总部。
Tā bèi zhàohuí le zǒngbù.
He was summoned back to headquarters.

Tips

usage
召开 = to convene (a meeting). 号召 = to call on/appeal to. 召唤 = to summon.
register
Read zhào for the verb 'to summon'. As a surname and in the name of the ancient state in present-day Shaanxi, it is read Shào instead.

Components

radical
口 kǒu
mouth
Bottom indexing radical 口 (mouth). Provides all the meaning: 召 means 'to call, summon' - done with the mouth. Compound layout puts the calling-mouth under the sound-piece. Same radical drives 唤 (call), 喊 (shout), 叫 (cry out). The summoning is verbal, not physical.
phonetic
刀 dāo
knife
Top 刀 (knife) supplies a rough sound (dāo → zhào, a heavy initial drift; this phonetic is also seen in 招 zhāo and 昭 zhāo). No semantic contribution - the knife is purely there for sound. Same shape underneath 切, 分, 召, 初.

Stroke Order

召 zhào