兆

zhào
#2,241 most
frequent character
(bound form) omen, to foretell

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

兆 first pictured two people escaping water, so the first sense was 'to escape, flee.' The senses 'cracks on oracle bones' and 'million' were borrowed for their sound, not from the picture. From the crack sense came 'to foretell; omen.'

Drawn as: two people escaping water

兆 as a component in other characters

sound13 characters
逃跳挑桃姚眺晁窕洮鼗祧铫珧

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Same Characters, Different Readings

兆Zhao4
surname Zhao

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

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