授 (shòu) · to confer, to give, to teach

Meanings

1 to confer
2 to give
3 to teach

Characters

授

shòu

to confer; to give; to teach

Examples

HSK 6

大学教授很有学问。

Dàxué jiàoshòu hěn yǒu xuéwen.

University professors are very knowledgeable.

HSK 7-9

授人以鱼不如授人以渔。

Shòu rén yǐ yú bùrú shòu rén yǐ yú.

Give a man a fish, better to teach him to fish.

Tips

usage

Common in 教授 (professor) and 授权 (to authorize).

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Hand radical on the left - added later to disambiguate 'give' from 'receive', both of which originally shared the picture in 受 (two hands passing an object). The extra hand explicitly marks the giver's side of the exchange. Sits with 提 lift, 持 hold, 拿 carry - the manual-action family. Without 扌, the character would just be 受 'to accept'.

phonetic

受 shòu

receive; accept

Right side 受 supplies the sound directly - same shòu with no shift. 受 itself depicts two hands and a boat-shaped object being passed between them, originally meaning both 'give' and 'receive'. The 扌 was bolted on later to split off the active 'give' sense, leaving 受 to carry the passive 'receive' meaning.