兆

Stroke order (Japan)

兆 (Kangxi radical 10, 儿+4, 6 strokes, cangjie input 中一山人 (LMUO), four-corner 3211₃, composition ⿻儿⿱丷八 or ⿻儿⿰冫⿱丿丶)

• 佻, 咷, 垗, 姚, 恌, 挑, 洮, 狣, 晀, 朓, 桃, 烑, 㸠, 珧, 祧, 脁, 眺, 䂪, 䄻, 絩, 罀, 䍮, 聎, 䑬, 䖴, 誂(𫍥), 跳, 䠷, 銚(铫), 鞉, 餆, 駣(𱅏), 鮡(𬶐)
• 逃, 趒, 𠛪, 𡭰, 覜(𬢋), 頫(𫖯), 鴵, 宨, 𪨱, 𮎮, 𪜍, 晁, 𣑯, 𣴝, 㿡, 𫀰, 窕, 𫅄, 筄, 雿, 𠩓, 𡱜, 庣, 𤶃, 旐, 𮧤, 鼗, 𨴡, 繉

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 124, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1347
• Dae Jaweon: page 260, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 268, character 2
• Unihan data for U+5146

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 兆

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 兆 (前綴) (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• Mega- (English)

Historical forms of the character 兆
Shang	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script j01450 j01451 j01452 Small seal script s02381 s02382 Transcribed ancient scripts L34835 L34836 L16555 L16556 L16557 L16558 L16559 L16560 L16561 L16562 L16563
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Pictogram (象形) – the cracks in a shell during fortune-telling, an omen.

Compare Chepang ह्रावःसा (hrawʔ‑, “to forebode; to portend ill fortune”).

兆

1. (historical) cracks formed on heated tortoise plastrons and mammal bones used in ancient divination

   • 是月也，命大史釁龜策，占兆審卦吉凶。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     是月也，命大史衅龟策，占兆审卦吉凶。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Shì yuè yě, mìng tàishǐ xìn guīcè, zhānzhào shěnguà jíxiōng.

     In this month orders are given to the Grand Scribe to smear with blood the tortoise-shells and divining stalks, and by interpreting the indications of the former and examining the figures formed by the latter, to determine the good and evil of their intimations.

   • 是以不擇時日，不占卦兆，不謀所始，不議所終。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     是以不择时日，不占卦兆，不谋所始，不议所终。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Huainanzi, 2^nd century BCE

     Shìyǐ bù zé shírì, bù zhān guàzhào, bù móu suǒshǐ, bù yì suǒzhōng.

     That being so, there was no selecting of times and days, no divining by trigrams or shell cracks, no scheming about where to begin, no discussion of where to end.

2. omen

   吉兆  ―  jízhào  ―  auspicious omen

   • 相陰陽，占祲兆，鑽龜陳卦，主攘擇五卜，知其吉凶妖祥，傴巫跛擊之事也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     相阴阳，占祲兆，钻龟陈卦，主攘择五卜，知其吉凶妖祥，伛巫跛击之事也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

     Xiàng yīnyáng, zhān jìnzhào, zuàn guī chén guà, zhǔ rǎngzé wǔbǔ, zhī qí jíxiōng yāoxiáng, yǔwū bǒjī zhī shì yě.

     The work of the hunchbacked shamans and lame-footed seers is to assess the yin and the yang, to divine the omens and portents, to drill the tortoise-shells and lay out the hexagrams, to preside over ceremonies for warding off ills, selecting lucky days, and the five prognostications, and to know good and bad fortune, the auspicious and the inauspicious.

3. to portend; to augur
4. graveyard, cemetery, necropolis

   • 吾力能改葬，終葬汝於先人之兆，然後惟其所願。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     吾力能改葬，终葬汝于先人之兆，然后惟其所愿。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 韓愈 Han Yu 《祭十二郎文》 "Funeral Oration for my Twelfth Nephew", 803 CE.

     Wú lì néng gǎizàng, zhōng zàng rǔ yú xiānrén zhī zhào, ránhòu wéiqí suǒyuàn.

     If I could rebury, I would rebury you in our ancestors' graveyard; only then would it be satisfactory.

5. (chiefly Taiwan) trillion (million million), tera-, 10¹²
6. (Mainland China) (SI prefix) million, mega-, 10⁶

   • 專惟君而無他兮，又眾兆之所讎。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     专惟君而无他兮，又众兆之所雠。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE, translated based on David Hawkes' version

     Zhuān wéi jūn ér wú tā xī, yòu zhòngzhào zhī suǒchóu.

     I thought of my prince alone, and of no other; and that, too, was a thing that the mob of hundreds of myriads abhorred.

• (trillion): (Mainland China) 萬億／万亿 (wànyì)
• (tera-): (Mainland China) 太 (tài)
• (mega-): (Taiwan) 百萬／百万 (bǎiwàn)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

兆

Wikipedia ^ja

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. portent
2. trillion, 10¹²
3. sign
4. omen
5. symptoms

• Go-on: じょう (jō)^{←でう (deu, historical)}
• Kan-on: ちょう (chō, Jōyō)^{←てう (teu, historical)}
• Kun: きざす (kizasu, 兆す, Jōyō)、きざし (kizashi, 兆し, Jōyō)
• Nanori: とき (toki)、よし (yoshi)

兆(ちょう) • (chō) 

1. trillion (million million), 10¹²

   5000(ごせん)兆(ちょう)円(えん)欲(ほ)しい！

   Go-sen-chō-en hoshii!

   I want 5,000,000,000,000,000 yen! (internet meme)

兆 (eum 조 (jo))

1. hanja form^? of 조 (“a trillion”)

兆: Hán Nôm readings: triệu, diệu, điềm, giệu

1. million, mega-