Pictograph, evolved into ideograph.
Early oracle-bone forms show lines cracking from a turtle shell, representing divination cracks.
The cracks were read as omens, hence the meaning sign, omen.
Later borrowed as a numeral to mean a very large number (10¹²).
Thus the character combines the senses of divination cracks → omen → sign → numerical unit.

徵兆 (징조) — omen, sign.
兆朕 (조짐) — portent, sign of things to come
兆民 (조민) — the multitude, the people
兆円 (조엔) — trillion yen (Japanese)
조(兆) 원 — trillion won (Korean currency usage)

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to transmit, to convey, to pass on

debt, financial obligation

picture, image, appearance, figure, shape

price, value, worth

bearing, demeanor, conduct, rule, law, ceremony, etiquette

a hundred million, 100.000.000, hundred-millionth

first, beginning, origin, chief

elder brother, senior male relative

a trillion, omen, sign, portent

first, foremost, before, earlier

light, radiance, brilliance

child, infant

inside, inner, within

whole, complete, entire

two, a pair, both

fair, impartial, public, official, common

six, number 6, sixth

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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.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

兆

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Words that derived from 兆

Neighboring characters in the dictionary