觅 (mì): (literary) to seek; to look for

Meanings

1 (literary) to seek; to look for

Characters

觅

mì

to seek; to look for

Examples

鸟儿在草地上觅食。

Niǎor zài cǎodì shàng mìshí.

The birds foraged on the grass.

他四处寻觅合适的工作。

Tā sìchù xúnmì héshì de gōngzuò.

He searched everywhere for a suitable job.

Tips

register

觅 is literary/classical Chinese. In modern speech, use 找 (zhǎo) or 寻找 (xúnzhǎo) instead. 觅 survives mainly in set compounds like 觅食 (forage) and 寻觅 (seek).

Components

radical

爫 zhǎo

claw; hand reaching down

Top claw radical — a downward-reaching hand with three fingers extended. The indexing radical for 觅. Pictures a hand groping or feeling for something, the gesture that precedes finding. Same component sits atop 爬, 爱, 受, 采 — all involving the reaching hand.

semantic

见 jiàn

see; perceive

Bottom 见 — a person with an enlarged eye drawn on top, meaning 'to see.' A compound ideograph: hand reaching down plus eye searching equals 'to seek out, hunt for.' The two pieces together give the precise picture of 觅 — searching with both hand and gaze.