肇 (zhào): to start

Meanings

1 to start
2 to initiate
3 to cause (an accident or trouble)

Characters

肇

zhào

to initiate; to cause

Examples

肇事的司机已经被拘留了。

Zhàoshì de sījī yǐjīng bèi jūliú le.

The driver who caused the accident has been detained.

这肇始了一个新时代。

Zhè zhào shǐ le yí gè xīn shídài.

This marked the beginning of a new era.

Tips

usage

Common in 肇事 (to cause an accident or incident, often a traffic one) and the formal 肇始 (to originate, to begin). The accident sense dominates everyday news writing.

Components

radical

聿 yù

writing brush

The brush radical 聿 anchors the bottom and is how the character is indexed; it links to the idea of formally setting down or instituting something.

semantic

户 hù

door; household

Top-left 户 sits beside the striking hand, part of the upper structure that historically pictured an action begun at a doorway.

semantic

攵 pū

tap; strike (action radical)

Top-right 攵 is the strike-action element, signaling a deliberate act that sets something in motion.

Stroke Order

肇 zhào

Related Words

肇事逃逸 zhàoshì táoyì

hit-and-run / to cause an accident and flee the scene

肇事 zhàoshì HSK 7-9 #9,985

to cause an accident / to create a disturbance

肇建 zhàojiàn

to found (for the first time) / to inaugurate (a building, institution, or state) / to first establish

肇事者 zhàoshìzhě #29,384

perpetrator / offender / person responsible for an incident

肇庆市 ZhàoqìngShì

Zhaoqing (prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province)

惹麻烦 rěmáfan #3,911

to cause trouble / to get into trouble

开头 kāitóu HSK 6 #3,889

beginning; start; opening / to begin; to start off

捣乱 dǎoluàn HSK 7-9 #5,415

to cause trouble / to make a mess / to be disruptive

车祸 chēhuò HSK 7-9 #2,363

car accident / traffic accident

启动 qǐdòng HSK 5 #2,270

to start (a machine); to activate / to launch; to initiate