• to see, to look at;
  • to observe;

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (with semantic fusion):

見 (볼 견, “to see, to behold”) — provides the semantic base.

示 (보일 시, “to show, to indicate”) — gives the phonetic value 시, but also reinforces the idea of “showing / seeing.”

Thus originally “to look at, to observe what is shown.”

Usage in Korean

視察 (시찰) — inspection, observation

注視 (주시) — to gaze, to fix one’s eyes on

無視 (무시) — to ignore, disregard

視線 (시선) — line of sight, gaze

視野 (시야) — field of vision

Additional notes

Interestingly, its sound (시) resembles English see, and the meaning aligns closely — a coincidence that students often note.

bol
si
Kangxi radical:147, + 4
Strokes:11
Unicode:U+8996
Cangjie input:
  • 戈火月山山 (IFBUU)
Composition:
  • ⿰ 礻 見

Neighboring characters in the dictionary

References

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