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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

保

bǎo
to raise; to rear
  • Ideogrammatic compound 會意
  • HSK 3
  • TOCFL 6
  • radical 人
  • 9 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

In the oracle script, this character was an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 人 (“person”) + 子 (“child”) – a person carrying a child on his back; to carry (a child) > to protect. See also 好.

In early bronze inscriptions, 爪 (“hand”) was added to the person to emphasize that the person was carrying the child. This was later simplified into one or two strokes. The current form has two.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *puʔ (“to carry (on back or shoulders)”). Cognate with 抱 (OC *buːʔ, “to heft, hug”); see there for more (STEDT). See also 寶.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*puʔ “to carry (on back or shoulders)”
  • ideaChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
  • ideaChinese子 “child; offspring; descendant”

Words built on it: 保持, 保留, 保存, 保守, 保安, 保護

Meanings

character
  1. to raise; to rear
  2. to keep; to maintain
  3. to protect; to safeguard; to defend
  4. to ensure; to guarantee
  5. guarantor
  6. an ancient Chinese administrative unit, consisting of 100 households

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

保：養也。从人，从𤓽省。𤓽，古文孚。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 維護、守衛、不使受損。 例：保護、保衛、保健
  2. 承擔、負責。 例：擔保、保證
  3. 伙計、傭工。 例：酒保
  4. 責任保證。 例：人保、店保、作保
  5. 薦舉。 例：保舉、保薦

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 保 was written 字形演變

  1. 保 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 保 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 保 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 保 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 保 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 保 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 保