寻

尋
xún
verb HSK 7-9 #3,820

Meanings

  1. 1 to search; to seek; to look for

Examples

HSK 1
Tā zài xúnzhǎo xīn de gōngzuò.
He is looking for a new job.
HSK 6
Jǐngchá zhèngzài xúnzhǎo xiànsuǒ.
The police are searching for clues.

Tips

usage
寻 is more formal than 找 (zhǎo). It appears in 寻找 (xúnzhǎo, to search for), 寻求 (xúnqiú, to seek), and 寻常 (xúncháng, ordinary/usual).

Components

radical
寸 cùn
inch; hand-with-pulse-mark
Hand-as-measure radical on the bottom - the indexing semantic. 寸 pictures a hand with a pulse-mark below the wrist, i.e. one Chinese inch (the pulse-point distance). Two hands stretched out measure a 寻 (an arm's span ≈ eight feet); from this concrete measurement came the verb 'to seek, search' - to extend yourself in search of something.
semantic
彐 jì
pig’s snout; stylised hand
Top - the 彐 shape, here functioning as a stylised hand reaching out. (The same shape appears as 'pig snout' in 雪 and 当, but here it is the upper of two hands.) The traditional 尋 had two hands stretched out measuring an arm's length, and the simplified 寻 preserves the upper hand as 彐.

Stroke Order

寻 xún