照

炤
zhào
#443 most
frequent character
reflect
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

照 uses 昭 zhāo, bright or light, which also marks the sound, plus 灬 fire. Fire and light give the first sense, to shine on. From shining came reflect, compare, according to, face toward, and take care of.

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Example Sentences

镜子可以照出我的样子。
jìngzǐ kěyǐ zhào chū wǒde yàngzǐ 。
The mirror can reflect my appearance.
阳光照在花朵上。
yángguāng zhàozài huāduǒ shàng 。
The sunlight reflects on the flowers.
水面可以照出天空的影子。
shuǐmiàn kěyǐ zhào chū tiānkōng de yǐngzǐ 。
The water surface can reflect the shadow of the sky.

Same Characters, Different Readings

照zhào
reflect

Words with similar meanings

反射fǎnshè
reflect
More commonly used in scientific contexts.
映yìng
to project/reflect an image
Also means to show an image; often used in more artistic contexts.

Homophones

照zhào
reflect
赵zhào
to surpass (old)
召zhào
to call together, to summon
罩zhào
to cover, to spread over, a cover

Words Starting With 照

照片zhào piàn
"photo; photograph; picture
照相机zhào xiàng jī
"camera
照顾zhào gu
to take care of; to show consideration; to attend to; to look after
照常zhào cháng
(business etc) as usual
照应zhào yìng
to correlate with; to correspond to

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