to buy, to purchase

to deal in, to trade in, to traffic

to sell

clam, shell, shellfish

 — shell; money
These characters belong to the 

 radical group, which is strongly associated with trade and wealth.

 — semantic component meaning “shell” (ancient currency, representing money or trade);


to put together, to arrange, to construct

 — phonetic component indicating the sound (구 / gòu).
The character originally referred to acquiring goods through payment, reflecting early forms of trade using shell money.

Semantic development:
- to acquire goods through payment;
- to purchase or buy;
- to obtain or procure something.
The meaning remained closely connected to commerce and trade.

購 commonly appears in words related to commercial transactions.
구매 (購買) — purchase; buying
구입 (購入) — buying; procurement
구독 (購讀) — subscription; purchasing reading material

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to be virtuous, to be wise, to be worthy

lowly, base, humble, to despise

tax, levy, to impose, to compose (poetry), to bestow

substance, quality, nature, essence

to gamble, to bet, wager, stake

to rely on, to depend upon, to trust

funeral gift, condolence money

to buy, to purchase, to procure

to give, to present, to bestow

to assist, to support, to praise

to redeem, to ransom, to buy back

to pardon, to forgive

bright, brilliant, blazing red

to rise, to get up, to stand

to leap over, to surpass, to go beyond

to go over, to cross, to surpass, to overtake

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Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

購

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Additional notes

Words that derived from 購

Neighboring characters in the dictionary