探す
さがす · sagasu · JLPT N4 · verb-godan
to search
🔍 sagasu: a SAGA to Seek Unseen things
A saga is a long quest, and every quest is a search. Say saga + su and you have the verb for looking for something. The kanji 探 also appears in 探検 (tanken, expedition), the same idea of going out to find what is missing.
探 — hand radical 扌 + 罙 (depth/cave)
探 combines the hand radical 扌 with 罙, which depicts a hand reaching into a cave or deep place. The original sense was reaching in to feel for or retrieve something hidden, which extended to 'probe,' 'search,' and 'explore.' 罙 also hints at the sound.