博

Formed as a phono-semantic compound:

十 (ten, many) provides the semantic suggestion of multiplicity, “numerous, abundant”;

尃 (spread, extend) supplies the phonetic element.

Together, they convey the sense of breadth, extensiveness, whether of knowledge, scope, or activity.

Semantic range:

- broad, wide, extensive (넓다, 광범위하다);

- learned, erudite (학식이 넓다 → 博學);

- gambling, games of chance (도박하다, 博奕);

- by extension, abundance, multiplicity.

博士 (박사) — doctor, PhD; originally “erudite scholar” in Han dynasty courts

博學 (박학) — erudition, broad learning

博覽會 (박람회) — exposition, fair, exhibition (“broad viewing”)

博愛 (박애) — philanthropy, broad love, humanitarianism

博奕 (박혁/박역) — gambling, games of chance

博 appears frequently in Confucian and scholarly contexts, particularly in the phrase 博學 (bóxué, “broad learning”), which was considered an ideal of the cultivated gentleman (君子). It emphasizes breadth of knowledge rather than narrow specialization, reflecting the classical belief that virtue arises from well-rounded learning.

In a different sense, 博 also entered usage in Daoist and Buddhist texts to describe vastness or universality, often contrasting narrow human concerns with cosmic scope.

The gambling sense (博奕) is historically secondary, but it reflects the idea of chance and risk within human affairs.