招
zhāo · HSK 6
to beckon
👋 Hand (扌) that summons (召) — to beckon or recruit
召 (zhào) already means to call or summon. Add the hand radical 扌 and you get the physical act: waving someone over, recruiting them. The pronunciation zhāo echoes 召 zhào.
招 — hand radical 扌 + 召 (call)
招 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 supplies the meaning—an action done with the hand—while 召 (to summon, call) gives both phonetic value and reinforces the sense. Together they depict beckoning someone with a hand gesture, extended to 'recruit' or 'attract'.