Meaning & readings
indications, sign, omen, symptom, collect, seek, refer to, question
Origin
This character appears to be phono-semantic rather than purely pictographic. The left side contains the "walk" or "movement" radical, which is common in characters related to going and seeking. The right side provides a sound hint for the pronunciation. The combination suggests the idea of going out to seek or collect something, which naturally extended to meanings like "sign" or "indication"—something you seek out or that points you toward something else. Over time, the character came to represent both the action of collecting or summoning and the abstract notion of a sign or symptom that indicates an underlying condition.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.
Components
This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (徴).
Common words
- 象徴 しょうちょう symbol (of something abstract); emblem
- 徴収 ちょうしゅう collection (of fees, taxes, etc.); levy
- 徴税 ちょうぜい tax collection; taxation
- 徴兵 ちょうへい conscription; (military) draft
- 追徴 ついちょう supplementary charge; additional collection
- 特徴 とくちょう feature; trait
- 課徴金 かちょうきん charges (i.e. fees)
- 象徴的 しょうちょうてき symbolic; symbolical
Reference
- Strokes
- 14
- Kangxi radical
- 60
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #850 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+05FB4