TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 · 字
考
考 ＝ 耂 ＋ 丂
ㄎㄠˇ · kǎo
verb — to test; to think over
字源 FORM — what the parts do
耂義an old man — long hair, bent backthe 老 graph minus its cane
丂聲kǎo — gives the sound, exact
An old man (耂) over 丂, which gives the sound exactly — the word for long life and the late father (如喪考妣 keeps it). "To examine" borrowed the graph from its twin 攷, the knocking-and-checking word, and kept it: 考試、思考.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
老人（耂）背駝了，頭髮長了，坐在門口曬太陽。
The old man (耂) — back bent, hair grown long — sits in the doorway sun.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)壽考— old age; the late father
→考試、考查— to test, to examine — borrowed from 攷常用
⇒思考— to think through
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension