Characters

Words

Vocabulary

Its variant form includes 夶, which is composed of two 大 (big) characters combined. According to the Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字), the seal script form depicts two 人 (person) characters reversed and placed side by side.
Since two 人 characters together can represent the meaning "to follow" (从), reversing them symbolizes closeness or intimacy, which corresponds to the meaning of 比 ("to compare" or "to be close").

When used as a radical or semantic component, it conveys meanings related to comparison, and characters containing the strokes of 比 are categorized under this radical.

#73 — to say, to speak

#74 — month, moon

#75 — tree, wood, wooden

#76 — yawn, deficiency

#77 — to stop, to cease, to halt

#78 — bare bones, the bones remaining after the meat has been cut away, bad

#79 — shu (an ancient Chinese weapon), a spear without a blade, a club

#80 — do not, don't, do not do, do not eat

#81 — to compare, to be side by side, to cling, to conspire, to connect

#82 — hair, fur

#83 — lineage, surname, clan

#84 — energy, air, vital force

#85 — water

#86 — fire, heat

#87 — nail, claw

#88 — father, elder member of the family

#89 — to interweave, to cross

Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

比

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Neighboring radicals in the dictionary

References