verb #9,742

Meanings

  1. 1 to open; to start; to initiate
  2. 2 to enlighten; to inform

Examples

HSK 2
Zhè běn shū gěi le wǒ hěn dà de qǐfā.
This book gave me great inspiration.
HSK 4
Qǐng qǐ kāi pínggài.
Please open the bottle cap.
HSK 6
Fēijī jíjiāng qǐháng.
The plane is about to depart.

Tips

usage
启发 = to inspire. 启动 = to start/launch. 开启 = to open/begin.

Components

radical
kǒu
mouth
Mouth radical bottom-right is the indexing radical and adds the speech sense - to enlighten or inform someone by speaking. The original form had (hand-with-stick) instead of , but the simplified shape kept from the variant , locking the speech sense in.
semantic
door; household
Top-left pictures a single-leaf door - half of the double-door form. The original idea of was a hand opening a door, hence to open or initiate. Same door element drives (room), (fan/leaf), (flat-on-door), all door-frame chars.

Stroke Order