校 (jiào): to proofread; to collate

Meanings

1 to proofread; to collate
2 to check; to verify
3 to calibrate; to adjust

Characters

校

jiào

to proofread; to collate

Examples

请再校对一遍这份稿子。

Qǐng zài jiàoduì yī biàn zhè fèn gǎozi.

Please proofread this manuscript once more.

仪器每年都要校准一次。

Yíqì měi nián dōu yào jiàozhǔn yī cì.

The instruments need to be calibrated every year.

编辑校出了十多处错字。

Biānjí jiào chū le shí duō chù cuòzì.

The editor caught more than ten typos.

Tips

usage

jiào lives in two semantic clusters. EDITORIAL/TEXTUAL: 校对 (proofread), 校对员 (proofreader), 精校 (meticulous proofreading), 校正 (correct, edit). INSTRUMENT/MEASUREMENT: 校准 (calibrate), 校验码 (check digit, checksum). Both senses share the meaning 'compare against a reference and correct'. The school reading xiào never crosses over.

memory

The phonetic 交 ('to cross / intersect') quietly carries the jiào sense: when you proofread or calibrate, you're laying two things side by side and comparing where they cross — text against original, reading against reference value. xiào (school) is the other branch of meaning from 校; jiào is the comparing-and-correcting branch.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Left tree radical — indexing radical for 校. Originally 校 meant a wooden enclosure or cangue (the X-shaped wooden frame used to discipline prisoners), then a wooden military camp, then a wooden teaching hall — wood underlies every sense. Same family as 桌 (table), 椅 (chair), 板 (plank). The school-meaning is the modern descendant of 'wooden teaching hall'.

phonetic

交 jiāo

cross; intersect

Right phonetic 交 — supplies the sound (jiāo → xiào, palatal shift; same family as 较, 狡, 咬). Originally pictured a person with crossed legs. The crossing image sneaks back as semantic flavor: 校 also reads jiào meaning 'to check, collate, proofread' — comparing two texts side by side, where they cross.