摇 (yáo): to shake

Meanings

1 to shake
2 to rock
3 to wave
4 to sway

Characters

摇

yáo

to shake; to rock; to sway

扌(hand) + 遥 phonetic — shaking done by hand

Examples

她摇了摇头。

Tā yáo le yáotóu.

She shook her head.

风把树摇得很厉害。

Fēng bǎ shù yáo de hěn lìhai.

The wind shook the tree violently.

妈妈轻轻地摇着摇篮。

Māma qīngqīngde yáo zhe yáolán.

Mom gently rocks the cradle.

Tips

usage

摇头 (yáo tóu) means to shake one's head (no). 摇摆 means to sway/waver. 摇滚 (yáogǔn) means rock and roll.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (left-side form of 手)

Hand radical on the left — to shake, swing, wave is fundamentally a hand-action. 摇 covers shaking your head, waving a flag, rocking a cradle — all manual oscillations. Same radical anchors 摇 with 拉 pull, 推 push, 抓 grab, 抖 tremble — the wide hand-verb family.

phonetic

䍃 yáo

earthen jar (rare standalone)

Right side 䍃 supplies an exact phonetic match: yáo → yáo, no drift. Originally pictured an earthen pot being lifted with the hands — fitting the hand-shaking imagery on the left. Rarely seen standalone but very productive as a phonetic: also gives 摇 yáo, 遥 yáo (distant), 谣 yáo (rumor), 瑶 yáo (precious jade), 窑 yáo (kiln).