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, composition ⿱丿日)

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

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		白

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bái, bó (bai², bo²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˊ, ㄅㄛˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak⁶
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): pha̍k
• Min Nan (POJ): pe̍h / pe̍k
• Wu (WT Romanisation): baq (T5)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: bái
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ
    • Wade-Giles: pai²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bair
    • IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯³⁵/

    • (file)

      
      
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: bó
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄛˊ
    • Wade-Giles: po²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bor
    • IPA ^(key): /pu̯ɔ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: baak⁶
    • Yale: baahk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁹
    • IPA ^(key): /pɑːk̚²/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: pha̍k
    • IPA (Siyen, including Miaoli): /pʰak̚⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pe̍h / pe̍k
    • Tâi-lô: pe̍h / pi̍k
    • IPA (Taipei): /peʔ⁴/, /pɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /peʔ¹²¹/, /pɪk̚¹²¹/
  • Note: pe̍h - vernacular, pe̍k - literary.
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: baq (T5)
    • IPA ^(key): /b̻ᴀʔ¹²/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (白, reconstructed)
Character (白), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 並 (3) Final: 陌 Division: II			Openness: Open Tone: Checked (Ø)			Fanqie: 傍陌切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/bɣæk̚/	/bʱɐk̚/	/bɐk̚/	/bɯak̚/	/baɨjk̚/	/bɐk̚/	/bak̚/

Old Chinese pronunciation (白, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
白								bái								‹ bæk ›								/*bˤrak/								white
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
白					207					白					鐸					0					白					/*braːɡ/

Definitions

白

1. (Beginning Mandarin) white

   白色  ―  báisè  ―  white color

2. clear; easy to understand

   明白  ―  míngbái  ―  clear , obvious

   淺白 / 浅白  ―  qiǎnbái  ―  simple

3. (Beginning Mandarin) clear; pure; plain; blank

   白紙 / 白纸  ―  báizhǐ  ―  a blank sheet of paper

   白水  ―  báishuǐ  ―  plain water

4. vernacular

   白話 / 白话  ―  báihuà  ―  spoken language

5. reactionary; anti-communist

   白軍 / 白军  ―  báijūn  ―  The White army

   白區 / 白区  ―  báiqū  ―  The White area

   白色恐怖  ―  báisèkǒngbù  ―  the White terror

6. (Elementary Mandarin) in vain; for nothing

   我們沒有白忙。 [MSC, trad.]

   我们没有白忙。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen méiyǒu bái máng. [Pinyin]

   Our efforts were not in vain.

   她白等了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Tā bái děng le. [Pinyin]

   She waited in vain.

   他們的血沒有白流。 [MSC, trad.]

   他们的血没有白流。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tāmen de xuè méiyǒu bái liú. [Pinyin]

   Their blood was not shed in vain.

   所有的工作都白做了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Suǒyǒu de gōngzuò dōu bái zuò le. [Pinyin]

   All the work has been done for nothing.

7. free of charge; gratuitous; gratis

   你可以白拿走這些蘋果。 [MSC, trad.]

   你可以白拿走这些苹果。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ kěyǐ bái názǒu zhè xiē píngguǒ. [Pinyin]

   You can have these apples for free.

8. to stare coldly; to stare at someone with the white of the eyes

   她生氣地白了他一眼。 [MSC, trad.]

   她生气地白了他一眼。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā shēngqì dì bái le tā yīyǎn. [Pinyin]

   She gave him an angry stare.

9. to explain; to present;to state

   自白  ―  zìbái  ―  explain oneself, confess

   開場白 / 开场白  ―  kāichǎngbái  ―  preamble

   表白  ―  biǎobái  ―  to explain oneself

   辯白 / 辩白  ―  biànbái  ―  to explain, to defend oneself

10. to mispronounce or wrongly write a character

    我老是寫白字讀破句。 [MSC, trad.]

    我老是写白字读破句。 [MSC, simp.]

    Wǒ lǎoshì xiě bái zì dúpòjù. [Pinyin]

    I always mispronounce words and break my sentences up in the wrong places.

    我把這字念白了。 [MSC, trad.]

    我把这字念白了。 [MSC, simp.]

    Wǒ bǎ zhè zì niàn bái le. [Pinyin]

    I've mispronounced the character.

11. spoken lines in opera

    念白  ―  niànbái  ―  spoken parts of a Chinese opera

    道白  ―  dàobái  ―  spoken parts of a Chinese opera

    獨白 / 独白  ―  dúbái  ―  monologue

    對白 / 对白  ―  duìbái  ―  dialogue

12. dialect
13. A surname​. Bai

Usage notes

• (Mandarin) 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 increasingly rare in China.
• (Min Nan) Read as pe̍h when by itself, and in most compounds. There are only a few compounds in which the pe̍k reading is used.

Compounds

Derived terms

• 一青二白

• 明白

• 泛白

• 清白

• 漂白

• 漂白劑／漂白剂

• 白人

• 白吃飯／白吃饭

• 白夜

• 白天

• 白嫩

• 白日夢／白日梦

• 白水

• 白珪／白圭

• 白茶

• 白蛋白

• 白蟻／白蚁

• 白話／白话

• 白費／白费

• 白銀／白银

• 白鬼

References

• "白" (in Taiwanese/English), On-line Taiwanese/Mandarin Dictionary (台文／華文線頂辭典). URL accessed on 2011-01-30.
• Taiwan Min Nan Common Words Dictionary (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典)

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Japanese

Pronunciation

• (しろ): IPA^(key): /ɕi.ꜜɾo/

Kanji

白

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

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

Compounds

Related terms

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 白書 (はくしょ , hakusho): white paper 足白癬 (あしはくせん, ashi hakusen): athlete's foot

Noun

白 (hiragana しろ, romaji shiro)

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

Noun

白 (hiragana しら, romaji shira)

1. white, Old Japanese pronunciation, now only seen in compounds

Derived terms

Related terms

白髪 (しらが, shiraga): white hair 白鳥 (しらとり, shiratori): swan 白羽 (しらは, shiraha): white feather 白地 (しらじ, shiraji): white background 白樺 (しらかば, shirakaba): Japanese white birch 白木 (しらき, shiraki): plain wood, unfinished woodwork 白雪 (しらゆき, shirayuki): white snow 白旗 (しらはた, shirahata): white flag 白浜 (しらはま, shirahama): white sandy beach 白壁 (しらかべ, shirakabe): white plaster wall 白子 (しらこ, shirako): soft roe, milt 白百合 (しらゆり, shirayuri): white lily 白糸 (しらいと, shiraito): white thread 白菊 (しらぎく, shiragiku): white chrysanthemum 白鷺 (しらさぎ, shirasagi): generic name for herons with all-white plumage (inc. egrets) 白州,白洲, 白沙 (しらす, shirasu): bar of white sand 白梅 (しらうめ, shiraume): white plum blossoms;  white Japanese apricot;  white-blossomed plum 白む (しらむ, to grow light;  to become white;  to turn grey (gray)): 白雲 (しらくも, shirakumo): white clouds 白玉 (しらたま, shiratama): white gem (e.g. pearl) 白玉椿 (しらたまつばき, shiratamatsubaki): common camelia 白ける (しらける, shirakeru): 白子干し (しらすぼし, shirasuboshi): dried young sardines 白刃 (しらは, shiraha): drawn sword, naked sword 白滝 (しらたき, shirataki): sheet-like waterfall 白茶ける (しらちゃける, shirachakeru): to fade,  to discolor 白々しい (しらじらしい, shirajirashii): pure-white, very clear 白魚 (しらうお, shirauo): icefish 白帆 (しらほ, shiraho): white sail 白露 (しらつゆ, shiratsuyu): glistening dew 白砂 (しらすな, shirasuna): white sand 白太 (しらた, shirata): sapwood 白癩 (しらはたけ, shirahatake): vitiligo 白絹 (しらぎぬ, shiraginu): white silk

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 (baek)
Eumhun:

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

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

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

See also

• 擘

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Vietnamese

Han character

白 (bạch, bạc)

Adjective

白

1. white