招呼 (zhāo hu) — to greet, to say hello to; to notify, to tell,… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

招呼 is a verb (always used with 打) covering both 'greet' and 'give advance notice / attend to' — one word, two social gestures, but never used alone. Always say 打个招呼 or 招呼一下, not bare 招呼.

to greetto say hello toto notifyto tellto give advance noticeto take care ofto look after (guests, needs)

Examples

招呼。
Wǒ gēn tā dǎ le ge zhāo hu jiù lí kāi le.
I greeted him quickly and left.
招呼，。
Nǐ qù zhāo hu yí xià, kàn kàn tā men yǒu shén me xū yào.
Go and attend to them, see what they need.
招呼，。
Lái zhī qián zuì hǎo dǎ gè zhāo hu, miǎn de pū kōng.
It's best to notify them in advance so you don't make a wasted trip.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

呼hūcall; shout

招 and 呼 both mean to call out, so the word developed the sense of greeting or calling someone.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌召招

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

召

召zhào招zhāo

Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

口乎呼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

乎

乎hū呼hū

Same sound today

呼 uses 口 (mouth) to show exhaling, calling, or shouting, and 乎 gives the sound.

Appears in

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