背

See also: 揹

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

背 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 中心月 (LPB), four-corner 1122₇, composition ⿱北月)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 977, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29363
• Dae Jaweon: page 1429, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2058, character 4
• Unihan data for U+80CC

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Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 背
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (北) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
背	*pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs
鄁	*bɯːɡs
偝	*bɯːɡs
邶	*bɯːɡs
苝	*bɯːɡs
北	*pɯːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) : phonetic 北 (OC *pɯːɡ) + semantic 月 (“meat”). Semantic 肉 was added to be distinguished from the derived meaning of 北 (“north”).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).

Two pronunciations were distinguished in Middle Chinese: puʌi^H (“back”), buʌi^H (“to turn one's back to; to betray”).

Pronunciation 1

trad.		背
simp. #		背

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 背

1. to memorize

   這篇文章寫得多棒啊，背下來。 [MSC, trad.]
   这篇文章写得多棒啊，背下来。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè piān wénzhāng xiěde duō bàng a, bèi xiàlái. [Pinyin]

   How excellently written is this article! Memorize it.

2. (anatomy) back
3. back; backside; reverse side
4. back of the hand
5. to turn one's back to
6. to abandon; to give up
7. to betray; to be disloyal
8. to deviate; to go contrary to; to violate
9. unlucky; out of luck
10. to recite
11. hard of hearing

    耳背  ―  ěrbèi  ―  hard of hearing

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 背 (“back (of the body)”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		背
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		背, 背部, 背脊, 脊背, 後背
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	後脊樑, 脊樑
	Taiwan	背
	Ulanhot	背
	Tongliao	背
	Chifeng	背
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	背
	Harbin	背, 後背, 後脊樑, 脊樑
	Singapore	背
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	脊樑
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	脊樑桿子, 脊樑, 脊樑蓋子
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	脊樑
	Wanrong	脊背
	Zhengzhou	脊樑
	Xi'an	脊背
	Xining	脊背
	Xuzhou	後筋股, 筋股, 後脊樑股, 脊樑股
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	脊樑
	Bayanhot	背, 脊背, 脊樑
	Lanzhou	脊背
	Ürümqi	脊背, 脊樑
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	背
	Wuhan	背心, 背
	Guiyang	背
	Liuzhou	背, 脊樑
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	脊背, 脊背心
	Yangzhou	脊背, 脊樑, 背
	Hefei	脊背, 背, 後背心
Mandarin	Nanping (Yanping)	背子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	背脊, 背脢
	Hong Kong	背脊
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	背脊, 背樑, 背裡
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	背裡脊
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	背脊
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	背脢
	Yangjiang	背脊
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	背脊
Gan	Nanchang	背脊
	Lichuan	背脊
	Pingxiang	背脊, 背
Hakka	Meixian	背囊, 背脊
	Xingning	背囊
	Huidong (Daling)	背囊脊
	Wuhua (Shuizhai)	背囊
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	背囊
	Wuhua (Changbu)	背囊
	Wuhua (Mianyang)	背囊
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	背脊
	Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang)	背囊
	Jiexi	背囊
	Luhe	背囊
	Changting	背脊, 背
	Wuping	背脊, 背囊
	Wuping (Pingyu)	背囊
	Liancheng	背脊
	Ninghua	背脊
	Yudu	背
	Ruijin	背脊
	Shicheng	背脊
	Shangyou (Shexi)	背
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	背囊
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	背囊
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	背囊
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	背囊
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	背囊
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	背脊𩩍
	Hong Kong	背囊
	Sabah (Longchuan)	背囊, 背
	Senai (Huiyang)	背囊
	Sungai Tapang, Batu Kawa (Hepo)	背囊
	Singkawang	背囊
Huizhou	Jixi	背脊
Jin	Taiyuan	脊背
	Xinzhou	脊背
	Taibus (Baochang)	背
	Linhe	脊背
	Jining	脊背
	Hohhot	脊背
	Baotou	脊背
	Dongsheng	脊背
	Haibowan	脊背
Northern Min	Jian'ou	背脊, 背脊𩩍
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	𩩍, 𩩍脊骨
Southern Min	Xiamen	尻脊, 尻脊𩩍, 巴脊
	Quanzhou	尻脊, 巴脊
	Jinjiang	尻壁
	Yongchun	巴脊
	Zhangzhou	尻脊, 尻脊𩩍, 巴脊
	Zhangzhou (Longhai)	尻脊𩩍
	Zhangzhou (Changtai)	尻脊
	Zhao'an	尻脊𩩍
	Taipei	尻脊𩩍
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	巴脊
	Kaohsiung	尻脊𩩍
	Yilan	尻脊𩩍
	Changhua (Lukang)	尻脊𩩍
	Taichung	尻脊𩩍
	Tainan	尻脊𩩍
	Hsinchu	尻脊𩩍
	Kinmen	尻脊𩩍
	Penghu (Magong)	尻脊𩩍
	Penang (Hokkien)	尻脊, 尻脊後
	Singapore (Hokkien)	尻脊, 巴脊
	Manila (Hokkien)	巴脊, 後壁, 尻脊
	Chaozhou	尻脊
	Raoping	尻脊
	Jieyang	尻脊, 尻脊枋
	Haifeng	巴脊
	Bangkok (Teochew)	尻脊
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	尻脊
	Leizhou	尻脊
	Haikou	尻脊
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	背脊, 背脢
Wu	Shanghai	背脊, 背脊骨
	Shanghai (Chongming)	背肌
	Suzhou	背心, 背
	Danyang	背背
	Hangzhou	背脊
	Ningbo	背脊心, 背脊登, 背脊胴, 背脊
	Wenzhou	背脊身, 背骶身, 後半身
	Jinhua	背脊
Xiang	Changsha	背脊, 背心, 背
	Loudi	背, 背皮
	Shuangfeng	背心, 背

Pronunciation 2

trad.		背/揹*
simp.		背

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 背

1. to carry on the back
2. (figurative) to carry; to bear (blame); to shoulder (responsibility)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 背負 (“to carry on the back”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		負
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		背負
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	背
	Taiwan	背
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	背
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	背
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	背
	Wuhan	背, 馱
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	背, 馱
	Hefei	背, 馱
Cantonese	Guangzhou	孭
	Hong Kong	孭
	Yangjiang	孭
Gan	Nanchang	馱, 背
Hakka	Meixian	背, 揹
Jin	Taiyuan	背
Northern Min	Jian'ou	騎, 邁
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	邁
Southern Min	Xiamen	背, 揹, 偝
	Zhangzhou	揹, 偝
	Taipei	揹, 偝
	Chaozhou	背
Wu	Suzhou	背
	Wenzhou	背, 擐
Xiang	Changsha	背
	Shuangfeng	背

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

背

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Readings

• Go-on: へ (he); べ (be); はい (hai, Jōyō); ばい (bai)
• Kan-on: はい (hai, Jōyō)
• Kun: せ (se, 背, Jōyō); せい (sei, 背, Jōyō); そむく (somuku, 背く, Jōyō); そむける (somukeru, 背ける, Jōyō)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
背
せ Grade: 6
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 背 – see the following entry.

【せ】H [noun] one's back (part of the human body) [noun] one's height [noun] the rear of something, the area behind Alternative spelling 脊

(This term, 背, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
背
せい Grade: 6
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 背 – see the following entry: せい

(The following entry is uncreated: せい.)

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Korean

Hanja

背 • (bae, pae) (hangeul 배, 패, revised bae, pae, McCune–Reischauer pae, p'ae, Yale pay, phay)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 背 (bối, bội, bổi, bồi)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.