Meaning & readings

introduce, inherit, help

On’yomi ショウ
Nanori つぐ

Origin

The character 紹 combines thread or silk (糸) on the left with 召 on the right, which serves as a sound hint for pronunciation. The connection between threads and the meanings of introduce or inherit likely comes from the idea of thread as something that links or connects things together—just as a thread joins separate pieces of material, introducing someone joins people together, and inheriting passes something down through a line of continuity. The 召 component doesn't contribute to the meaning but tells you roughly how the character should sound.

紹 11 strokes

Components

  • 糸 radical left
  • 召 sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 紹介 しょうかい introduction; presentation
  • 紹介者 しょうかいしゃ person who introduces someone; introducer
  • 紹介文 しょうかいぶん introductory text; introductory essay
  • 自己紹介 じこしょうかい self-introduction

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
120
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#963 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+07D39