考

考 (Kangxi radical 125, 老+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 十大卜尸 (JKYS), four-corner 4420₇, composition ⿱耂丂(GTV) or ⿱耂⿺㇉一(H) or ⿱耂⿺㇉丿(JK))

• 侤 𠱼 㘼 㛈 𪫭 拷 洘 栲 烤 𧙲 𥹬 銬(铐) 鮳(鲓) 㼥 𫇷 𥬯 耉
• 𫷟 𬐈 𬁥 𮔁 𬢦 𬴗

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 960, character 27
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 28843
• Dae Jaweon: page 1408, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2779, character 2
• Unihan data for U+8003

Historical forms of the character 考
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Variant of 老 (OC *ruːʔ) – Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 耂 (“an old man with long hair, bent over”) + 匕 (“a cane”) – an old man, leaning on a cane. Compare top component to 孝 (OC *qʰruːs).

Structurally related to 老 (OC *ruːʔ); the most commonly cited example of 轉注 (“reciprocal meaning”).

考

1. to examine; to check

   考察  ―  kǎochá  ―  to examine

2. to study; to investigate

   考慮／考虑  ―  kǎolǜ  ―  to consider

   思考  ―  sīkǎo  ―  to think

   考古  ―  kǎogǔ  ―  archaeology

   生卒年不可考  ―  shēng zú nián bùkě kǎo  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. to test; to assess

   你考倒我了。  ―  Nǐ kǎo dǎo wǒ le.  ―  You got me there.

   考考你的數學能力。 [MSC, trad.]
   考考你的数学能力。 [MSC, simp.]

   Kǎo kǎo nǐ de shùxué nénglì. [Pinyin]

   Testing your maths prowess.

4. to have a test; to have an exam

   考滿分／考满分  ―  kǎo mǎnfēn  ―  to get full marks

   考車、考車牌 [Cantonese, trad.]
   考车、考车牌 [Cantonese, simp.]

   haau² ce¹, haau² ce¹ paai⁴ [Jyutping]

   to take a driver's license test

   我明天考數學。／我明天考数学。  ―  Wǒ míngtiān kǎo shùxué.  ―  I'm having my maths exam tomorrow.

5. Short for 考試／考试 (kǎoshì, “exam; test”).

   高考  ―  gāokǎo  ―  gaokao

6. (literary) long-lived; elderly

   福祿壽考／福禄寿考  ―  fúlù shòukǎo  ―  wealth, happiness and longevity

7. (literary) deceased father; posthumous name for male relations

   先考  ―  xiānkǎo  ―  deceased father

   • 祭王父曰皇祖考，王母曰皇祖妣。父曰皇考，母曰皇妣。夫曰皇辟。生曰父、曰母、曰妻，死曰考、曰妣、曰嬪。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     祭王父曰皇祖考，王母曰皇祖妣。父曰皇考，母曰皇妣。夫曰皇辟。生曰父、曰母、曰妻，死曰考、曰妣、曰嫔。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Jì wángfù yuē huángzǔkǎo, wángmǔ yuē huángzǔbǐ. Fù yuē huángkǎo, mǔ yuē huángbǐ. Fū yuē huángpì. Shēng yuē fù, yuē mǔ, yuē qī, sǐ yuē kǎo, yuē bǐ, yuē pín. [Pinyin]

     In sacrificing to them, a grandfather is called 'the sovereign grandfather'; a grandmother, 'the sovereign grandmother'; a father, 'the sovereign father'; a mother, 'the sovereign mother; a husband, 'the sovereign pattern.' While alive, the names of 'father', 'mother', and 'wife' are used; when they are dead, those of 'the completed one', 'the corresponding one', and 'the honored one'.

• → Guiqiong: kʰɐu (“to sit exams”)

• “考”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A03252

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. thought
2. consideration

• Go-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
• Kan-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
• Kun: かんがえる (kangaeru, 考える, Jōyō)^{←かんがふ (kangafu, 考ふ, historical)←かむかふ (kamukafu, 考ふ, ancient)}; かんがえ (kangae)

From Middle Chinese 考 (MC khawX).

• (to think):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ko̞]
  • Phonetic hangul: [고]
• (to study; to test):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ko̞(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [고(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource 考 (eumhun 생각할 고 (saenggakhal go))

1. Hanja form^? of 고 (“to think; to consider”).
2. Hanja form^? of 고 (“to study; to investigate”).
3. Hanja form^? of 고 (“to test; to assess”).

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

考: Hán Nôm readings: khảo

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.