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

---

Cantonese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paːk˨/

Hanzi

白 (Jyutping baak6, Yale baak6)

---

Hakka

Hanzi

白 (POJ pha̍k, Guangdong p'ak⁸, Hagfa Pinyim pag6, ped6)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

---

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

• 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

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

• 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)

---

Korean

Hanja

白 (baek)
Eumhun:

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

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

See also

• 擘

---

Mandarin

simpl. and trad.
白

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [ pai˧˥ ]
• IPA^(key): [ 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

---

Middle Chinese

Han character

白 (*bhæk)

---

Min Nan

simpl. and trad.
白

Hanzi

白 (POJ pe̍k (pek⁸), pe̍h (peh⁸), TLPA pi̍k (pik⁸), pe̍h (peh⁸))

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ peʔ˥˥ ]
• IPA^(key): [ 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.
• Taiwan Min Nan Common Words Dictionary (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典)

---

Vietnamese

Han character

白 (bạch, bạc)

Adjective

白

1. white