丂 (kǎo) - Ancient character meaning to beg, to interrogate & archaic form of 考 (to test/examine) and 巧

丂Tone 3

kǎo ｜ 2 strokes ｜ radical: 一

俊梁

丂 · kǎo

Ancient character meaning to beg, to interrogate;

archaic form of 考 (to test/examine) and 巧 (skillful).

Ancient character meaning to beg, to interrogatearchaic form of 考 (to test/examine) and 巧

Usage highlights

Ancient formOracle bone scriptCharacter evolutionArchaic Chinese

Synonyms

  • 考— to test, examine (modern equivalent)
  • 巧— skillful, clever (related meaning)

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • This ancient character (丂) is rarely used in modern writing.
  • It appears in oracle bone inscriptions (甲骨文) as an archaic form.
  • Scholars study its evolution (演变) to modern characters.

Collocations

  • Ancient form(古体字)
  • Oracle bone script(甲骨文)
  • Character evolution(文字演变)
  • Archaic Chinese(上古汉语)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • One of the oldest Chinese characters, found in oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang dynasty.
  • Served as a phonetic component in many derived characters like 考, 巧, and 号.

FAQ