探

探 (Kangxi radical 64, 手+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 手月金木 (QBCD), four-corner 5709₄, composition ⿰扌罙)

• 𠽄

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 438, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 12276
• Dae Jaweon: page 788, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1907, character 6
• Unihan data for U+63A2

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *l̥ʰuːm, *l̥ʰuːms): semantic 扌 (“hand”) + phonetic 𥥍.

As the initial of the 罙 phonetic series is uncertain, 探 (tàn) may be related to 深 (shēn) (provided the initial was *nh-) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, this agrees with Mizo tham (“to feel (especially with the hand)”).

Note also potential similarities to Burmese စမ်း (cam:, “to grope; to test”) (Luce, 1981).

探

1. to reach for; to grope for
2. to find; to locate
3. to search; to explore
4. to inquire
5. to visit
6. to scout; to spy
7. spy
8. to try
9. to extend; to stretch out

• → Vietnamese: thăm

• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “探”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 192.

(Sixth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. look for

• Go-on: とん (ton)^{←とん (ton, historical)←とむ (tomu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: たん (tan, Jōyō)^{←たん (tan, historical)←たむ (tamu, ancient)}
• Kun: さがす (sagasu, 探す, Jōyō)、さぐる (saguru, 探る, Jōyō)

探(たん) • (-tan) 

1. (archaic) spy from (a country)
   • 1947, Ango Sakaguchi, 『二十七歳』

     独(どく)探(たん)のケンギを受(う)けて、大(たい)正(しょう)五(ご)年(ねん)だかに国(こく)外(がい)退(たい)去(きょ)を命(めい)じられたという。

     Doku-tan no kengi o ukete, Taishō go-nen daka ni kokugai taikyo o meijirareta to iu.

     [He was] accused of being a German spy and was officially deported in some time around 1916, as the story goes.

From Middle Chinese 探 (MC thom). Recorded as Middle Korean 탐 (tham) (Yale: tham) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

探 (eumhun 찾을 탐 (chajeul tam))

1. hanja form^? of 탐 (“search”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [1]

探: Hán Việt readings: thám^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}, tham^[5][7]
探: Nôm readings: thăm^{[1][2][3][4][6][7][8]}, thớm^{[3][4][6][7][8]}, xăm^[3][4], xom^[3][4], thắm^[1], thẫm^[1], thóm^[1], thấm^[2], phăm^[3], phớm^[7]

1. chữ Hán form of thám (“(in compounds) to reach for; to search; to visit; to spy”)
2. chữ Nôm form of thăm (“to visit; to call on”)
3. chữ Nôm form of thắm (“(of color, especially the color red) dark; carmine; gorgeous”)