召 zhào summon
imperial decree; to summon; to call
How it came to be
A mouth with a knife above it for the sound. Calling somebody in by voice; the old dictionary explains it as to call out to.
How it is used
- Bound, formal verb meaning "to summon, convene" - heavily used in news and official language.
- 召开 zhàokāi "to convene (a meeting)" is the standard collocation: 召开会议 zhàokāi huìyì "to hold a meeting".
- 号召 hàozhào "to call on, rally (people to a cause)" and 召集 zhàojí "to gather/summon people together" round out the cluster.
- Not used in casual speech outside these fixed compounds.