zāo
verb #3,002

Meanings

  1. 1 to meet with (misfortune)
  2. 2 classifier for times

Examples

Zāoshòu
to suffer; to sustain
Zāoyù
to encounter (misfortune)

Tips

usage
Usually implies meeting something bad — 遭殃 means 'to suffer a disaster'

Components

radical
chuò
walk; movement (radical)
Surrounding walk radical (Kangxi #162) — three strokes, a stylised foot-and-step (the simplified form of ). Wraps from below-left around the right and bottom. Carries the meaning: 'to meet with, encounter, run into' is fundamentally a movement-and-meeting verb. Same radical anchors (advance), 退 (retreat), (pass), (return), (flee), (meet) — the entire travel-and-encounter family.
phonetic
cáo
company; group (phonetic)
Inner phonetic — supplies the sound (cáo drifted to zāo, regular onset shift). Originally depicted two facing officials in a courtroom hearing testimony from 'speech' below — hence 'paired group, troop, court department.' Adds a faint flavour: encountering a 'group' is the picture of meeting fate. Same phonetic anchors (trough), (lees/spoiled), (water transport), (noisy).

Stroke Order

zāo