斡

wò
verb #31,236

Meanings

  1. 1 to turn; revolve
  2. 2 to rotate

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā zài liǎng guó zhījiān wòxuán.
He is mediating between the two countries.
HSK 7-9
Jīngguò duōfāng wòxuán, zhēngduān dédào jiějué.
After extensive mediation from many sides, the dispute was resolved.

Tips

usage
斡 alone is rare in modern Chinese. You'll almost always see it in the compound 斡旋 (wòxuán, 'to mediate / use one's good offices'), a staple of diplomatic and legal news. The metaphor: the diplomat is the handle that turns the situation.
memory
Right side is 斗 (dǒu, 'dipper / scoop'). Picture turning a ladle's handle, that's 斡, to turn or revolve.

Components

radical
斗 dǒu
dipper; ladle
Right-side dipper radical, pictograph of a long-handled ladle used to measure grain. The indexing radical here, supplying the meaning: a dipper turns and pours, and 斡 took that rotational sense to mean 'to revolve, to mediate, to handle.' The same radical sits in 料 material and 科 category.
phonetic
倝 gàn
sunrise glow
Left side 倝 supplies the sound, gàn drifting to wò through an old initial change preserved in this small phonetic family. 倝 itself pictures the sun rising behind plants, the same component sitting inside 朝 morning and 韩 Korea. Here it carries no surviving semantic role; it tags 斡 by sound for the 'turn, revolve' verb.

Stroke Order

斡 wò