求

Sometimes carries the sense of misfortune (in early usage).

Originally an ideograph with zoomorphic roots.

In oracle bone inscriptions, 求 depicts a house centipede or earwig-like insect, with its pincers and segmented body.

By extension, it came to mean “to pursue, to seek after,” paralleling the movement of the insect.

The modern form is treated as a phono-semantic compound:

戈 or water-related determinatives in compound forms.

求 itself retained its sound across derived characters.

Semantic range:

- to seek, to strive for (구하다, 요구하다)

- to request, to beg (청구하다)

- misfortune, blame (rare, early meaning, related to 咎)

요구 (要求) – demand, request

구원 (救援) – rescue, to save

청구 (請求) – formal request, claim

탐구 (探求) – exploration, inquiry

추구 (追求) – pursuit, striving after

Oracle bone inscriptions attest to 求 used both for “to seek” and “misfortune.”

The insect-based origin is preserved in the rare character 蛷 (“earwig”), which shares the same graphic root.

Distinct from 裘 (“fur coat”), though early lexicographers like Xu Shen in Shuowen Jiezi confused the two, thinking 求 was a variant of 裘. Later paleographic research confirmed they were separate characters from the start. This long-standing confusion comes from the fact that Xu Shen had not seen oracle bones and interpreted only later forms.