晓

曉
xiǎo
verb #16,509

Meanings

  1. 1 dawn
  2. 2 to know
  3. 3 to let know

Examples

HSK 2
Zhè jiàn shì dàjiā dōu zhīxiǎo.
Everyone knows this matter.
HSK 7-9
Bǐsài jiéguǒ míngtiān jiēxiǎo.
The results of the competition will be announced tomorrow.
HSK 7-9
Pòxiǎo shífēn, tā tàshàng le lǚtú.
At daybreak, he set out on his journey.

Tips

memory
日 (sun) + 尧 - the light of dawn brings knowledge.

Components

radical
日 rì
sun; day
Left sun radical (Kangxi #72) - pictograph of the sun, a square with a central marker. Anchors 晓 in the time-of-day family: 早 (morning), 晚 (evening), 时 (hour), 明 (bright), 暗 (dark). 晓 is the moment of dawn when first sun cracks the horizon - and from that 'first light' came the figurative sense 'to understand, to become clear' (知晓, 晓得).
phonetic
尧 yáo
Yao (sage-king); high
Right 尧 supplies the sound (yáo shifted to xiǎo, regular palatal drift through the y/sh series). 尧 itself was the legendary sage-king Yao, his name written as a tall pile of earth pictographically. Same phonetic family: 烧 (burn), 浇 (pour on), 绕 (wind around), 翘 (raise high). All share the 尧 right-side and varying yáo / shāo / ráo / qiào readings.

Stroke Order

晓 xiǎo