索 means “search, rope”

さく · saku

Also: cord, searching, inquiring

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

サク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

Thread (糸) twisted under a cover (冖) with a cross (十) on top: 索 once meant rope. Picture following one hand over hand through the dark: 索 is searching, 検索 in every search box, 捜索 a police or rescue search, and 索引 an index.

Used in 検索 (kensaku, search), 捜索 (sousaku, search operation), and 索引 (sakuin, index)

More from Ropes & Knots

• 鎖 chain
• 絞 wring
• 縛 bind
• 結 tie
• 維 fiber
• 締 tighten
• 繰 reel
• 括 bundle
• 綱 rope

Learn 索 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.