招く

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 招く is read as まねく and is a transitive verb meaning to invite a person or to cause a particular result.
• Basic usage: Inviting a friend home appears in 友人を家へ招く, while carelessness causing failure appears in 油断が失敗を招く.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• People and results as objects
  • With a person as its object it means invite, while with a result such as failure or confusion it means bring about or cause.
• Difference from 呼ぶ
  • 呼ぶ broadly means to call by name or summon someone, while 招く focuses on inviting a guest or bringing about a result.