照 (zhào): shine, according to
照 (zhào) is a Chinese character meaning “shine, according to.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 昭 (phonetic) and 灬 (semantic). It ranks #443 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 照 fire. Its radical form 灬 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 点 (diǎn, point, o'clock), 热 (rè, hot, to heat), 然 (rán, nature, thus).
Definitions
- shine, according to
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 照 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 照
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 照片noun | zhào piàn | photograph | 3 |
| 照顾verb | zhào gu | to take care of | 3 |
| 按照preposition | àn zhào | according to | 4 |
| 拍照verb | pāi zhào | to take a picture | 3 |
| 护照noun | hù zhào | passport | 3 |
| 驾照noun | jià zhào | driver's license (abbr. for 駕駛執照|驾驶执照[jia4 shi3 zhi2 zhao4]) | 5 |
| 照相verb | zhào xiàng | to take a photograph | 3 |
| 照明verb | zhào míng | lighting | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 照看 | zhào kàn | to look after |
| 执照 | zhí zhào | license |
| 关照 | guān zhào | to take care |
| 照相机 | zhào xiàng jī | camera |
| 照料 | zhào liào | to tend |
| 牌照 | pái zhào | (business) license |
| 照办 | zhào bàn | to follow the rules |
| 照样 | zhào yàng | as before |
| 照亮 | zhào liàng | to illuminate |
| 依照 | yī zhào | according to |
| 照耀 | zhào yào | to shine |
| 照镜子 | zhào jìng zi | to look in the mirror |
| 照常 | zhào cháng | as usual |
| 遵照 | zūn zhào | in accordance with |
| 照射 | zhào shè | to shine on |
照 appears in 100 compound words: 46 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 照 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to understand something but not voice it; to have a tacit understanding
Showing 6 of 7 idioms containing 照.
Example Sentences
请按照说明书上的步骤操作，不要跳过任何环节。
Qǐng ànzhào shuōmíngshū shang de bùzhòu cāozuò, búyào tiàoguò rènhé huánjié.
Please follow the steps in the manual and do not skip any steps.
在汽旅毒杀2男!韩国蛇蝎美人照片曝光 IG粉丝暴涨50倍
zài qì lǚ dú shā 2 nán ! hán guó shé 蝎 měi rén zhào piàn pù guāng I G fěn sī bào zhǎng 5 0 bèi
Poisoned 2 men in the automobile tour! Korean femme fatale photos exposed IG fans soared 50 times
经典赛》王建民撞脸SJ希澈的飘发照 韩媒也关注
jīng diǎn sài wáng jiàn mín zhuàng liǎn S J xī chè de piāo fā zhào hán méi yě guān zhù
Classic" Wang Jianmin hit SJ Heechul's hair photo in the face Korean media also paid attention
...杨偲泳性感镜头疑遭刻意删减 公开绝密福利照凭歌寄意回应
. . . yáng 偲 yǒng xìng gǎn jìng tóu yí zāo kè yì shān jiǎn gōng kāi jué mì fú lì zhào píng gē jì yì huí yīng
... Yang Siyong's sexy scenes are suspected of being deliberately deleted, and the public top-secret welfare photos respond with songs
TVB视帝黄宗泽晒童年照吸引4千万人围观 6岁潮男Chok样曝光...
T V B shì dì huáng zōng zé shài tóng nián zhào xī yǐn 4 qiān wàn rén wéi guàn 6 suì cháo nán C h o k yàng pù guāng . . .
TVB TV emperor Huang Zongze posted childhood photos to attract 40 million onlookers 6-year-old trendy man Chok appearance exposed...
春晚这扇“窗”,照见中国机器人产业“跑”出倍速
chūn wǎn zhè shān chuāng , zhào jiàn zhōng guó jī qì rén chǎn yè pǎo chū bèi sù
Spring Festival Gala this "window", see China's robotics industry "run" out of times speed
你能用这台相机帮我们拍张照吗？
Nǐ néng yòng zhè tái xiàngjī bāng wǒmen pāi zhāng zhào ma?
Would you take a picture of us with this camera?
要是我死了，谁来照顾我的孩子们？
Yàoshi wǒ sǐ le, shéi lái zhàogu wǒ de háizimen?
Were I to die, who would look after my children?
我们可以在大楼里拍照吗？
Wǒmen kěyǐ zài dàlóu lǐ pāizhào ma?
Is it all right to take pictures in this building?
请让我看一下您的护照好吗？
Qǐng ràng wǒ kàn yīxià nín de hùzhào hǎo ma?
May I see your passport, please?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 照 (zhào) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 照 have?
What is the radical of 照?
What are the components of 照?
What are common words containing 照?
What characters sound the same as 照 (zhào)?
Is 照 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 照 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.