图 (tú) · picture; diagram

Meanings

1 picture; diagram
2 map
3 to plan; to seek

Characters

图

tú

picture; diagram; map

Examples

HSK 1

他图什么？

Tā tú shénme?

What is he after?

HSK 2

你有地图吗？

Nǐ yǒu dìtú ma?

Do you have a map?

HSK 3

看这张图。

Kàn zhè zhāng tú.

Look at this picture/diagram.

Tips

usage

图 appears in many common compounds: 地图 (map), 图书馆 (library), 图片 (image), 图画 (drawing). As a verb, 图 means 'to seek/plan for': 图方便 (seeking convenience).

Components

radical

囗 wéi

enclosure (big square radical)

Outer enclosure radical (Kangxi #31) - depicts a walled boundary. Indexes 图 in the bounded-space family with 国, 园, 困, 围, 圆. Pictures the framed border of a map, plan, or chart: a 图 is something drawn within defined edges. Note this is the bigger 囗 (wéi, U+56D7) not the smaller 口 (mouth, kǒu, U+53E3) - visually identical but distinct characters.

phonetic

冬 dōng

winter

Inside 冬 - in simplified 图 this slot replaced traditional 啚's complex granary picture. 冬 here is a phonetic-ish stand-in chosen during simplification rather than an etymological component (traditional 圖 had 啚 'rural area'). The simplified shape is a clean enclosed 冬, easy to write but no longer transparent. Pure modern reform residue.