白

See also 日, 曰, 臼, 自, and 百

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Etymology

Pictogram (象形) – originally an acorn. The character acquired its current meaning of white from the color of the acorn’s flesh. The original meaning has been lost. (Compare 自 – originally “nose”, now “self”.)

Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Han character

白 (radical 106 白+0, 5 strokes, cangjie input 竹日 (HA), four-corner 2600₀)

1. white
2. pure, unblemished
3. bright
4. used as a surname

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/白
• 柏
• 習 (in current form)

References

• KangXi: page 785, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 22678
• Dae Jaweon: page 1196, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2642, character 1
• Unihan data for U+767D
• http://www.kanjinetworks.com/eng/kanji-dictionary/online-kanji-etymology-dictionary.cfm

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Cantonese

Pronunciation

• IPA: /paːk˨/

Hanzi

白 (jyutping baak6, Yale baak6)

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Japanese

Kanji

白 (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Go'on: びゃく (byaku)
• Kan'on: はく (haku)
• Kun: しろ (shiro), しろい (shiroi), もうす (mousu)

Compounds

• 白銀
• 白夜
• 白蟻
• 白雨
• 潔白
• 面白い (おもしろい, omoshiroi)
• 漂白剤 (hyōhakuzai)
• 腕白 (わんびゃく, wanbyaku): naughty

Noun

白 (hiragana しろ, romaji shiro)

1. white
2. a white go stone
3. innocence

Related terms

• 白い(しろい, shiroi) (Adjective form)
• しらを切る(しらをきる, shirawokiru)

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Korean

Hanja

白
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 백 (revised: baek, McCune-Reischauer: paek, Yale: payk)

• Name (hangeul): 희다 (revised: huida, McCune-Reischauer: hŭida, Yale: huyta)

See also

• 擘

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Mandarin

simpl. and trad.

白

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: [ pai˧˥ ]
• IPA: [ pɔ˧˥ ]

Hanzi

白 (pinyin bái (bai2), bó (bo2), Wade-Giles pai², po²)

Adjective

白 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin bái)

1. (Beginning Mandarin) white
2. (Beginning Mandarin) clear; pure; plain; blank

Adverb

白 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin bái)

1. (Elementary Mandarin) in vain

Usage notes

• The bó reading is almost never used in spoken Mandarin. The most well-known usage of bó is in the name of a leading Tang dynasty poet Lǐ Bó (李白) (now commonly pronounced Lǐ Bái); this reading is decreasingly common in China.

Compounds

• 白茶: white tea; (rare) plain hot water as a beverage
• 白吃饭: to take advantage without giving something in return
• 白蛋白: albumin
• 白鬼: derogatory term for a white (Caucasian) person
• 白圭
• 白话: vernacular Chinese
• 白嫩
• 白人: (literally) white person; member of the white or Caucasian race
• 白天: daytime, in the daylight
• 白日梦: daydream
• 白费: to do something in vain; for nought
• 白水: plain (hot) water
• 白蚁
• 白银: silver (Ag)
• 白夜: midnight sun (polar regions)
• 清白
• 一青二白: a Chinese dish made with tofu and scallions, served as appetizer; usually used to describe things that are very clear, no repeat is required.
• 漂白 (piǎo bái)
  • 漂白剂
• 泛白
• 明白

References

• "白" (in Mandarin/English). Pleco Dictionary. URL accessed on 2011-01-30.
• 2000, Shao, Jingmin (ed.), HSK Dictionary (HSK汉语水平考试词典) (in Mandarin/English), Shanghai: Huadong Teachers College Publishers, ISBN 7561720785:
• "白" (in Mandarin/English). Dr. eye. URL accessed on 2011-01-30.

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Middle Chinese

Han character

白 (*bhæk)

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Min Nan

simpl. and trad.

白

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ peʔ˥˥ ]
• IPA: [ pek˥˥ ]

Adjective

白 (traditional and simplified, POJ pe̍h)

1. white

Adjective

白 (traditional and simplified, POJ pe̍k)

1. used abstractly in compound words to convey the sense of transparent, unobscured or understandable

Usage notes

• Read as pe̍h when by itself, and in most compounds. There are only a few compounds in which the pe̍k reading is used.

References

• "白" (in Taiwanese/English). On-line Taiwanese/Mandarin Dictionary (台文／華文線頂辭典). URL accessed on 2011-01-30.

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Vietnamese

Han character

白 (bạch, bạc)

Adjective

白

1. white