搜寻
sōuxún · HSK 7
search/look for
🔍 搜 (seek) + 寻 (seek) = two seek-words stacked, doubling down on search
Both 搜 and 寻 independently mean to look for, so 搜寻 pairs near-synonyms for emphasis: an active, thorough search. Sound-alike: sou-shun, like a sleuth on a hunt.
搜 — hand radical 扌 + 叟 sǒu (old man)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning, indicating an action done with the hand, while 叟 supplies the sound. Originally meaning to grope or feel for something by hand, it extended to the modern sense of searching or seeking.
寻 — hand 彐 (top) + inch 寸 (bottom), simplified from 尋
Originally a compound showing two hands measuring a length, with 工 and 口 between them, indicating the act of measuring with outstretched arms. The traditional form 尋 referred to a unit of length (about eight chi). The meaning extended from 'measure' to 'search for' or 'seek out'.