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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

包

bāo
to wrap up; to enwrap; to bundle up
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 3
  • radical 勹
  • 5 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

Pictogram (象形) – a fetus (巳 (sì)) in the womb (勹), or a swaddled baby. Shuowen gives both interpretations.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

Words built on it: 跑, 包括, 飽, 包子, 包含, 抱, 面包, 泡, 包裹, 皮包, 背包

Meanings

character
  1. to wrap up; to enwrap; to bundle up
  2. to make a wrapped item
  3. to include; to encompass
  4. to cover; to place under cover
  5. to surround
  6. to undertake (a task, a job, a project, etc.)

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

包：象人褢妊，巳在中，象子未成形也。元气起於子。子，人所生也。男左行三十，女右行二十，俱立於巳，爲夫婦。褢妊於巳，巳爲子，十月而生。男起巳至寅，女起巳至申。故男秊始寅，女秊始申也。凡包之屬皆从包。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 裹紮、容納。 例：包裝、包容、包涵
  2. 裝東西的袋子。 例：皮包、書包、腰包
  3. 圍住。 例：包抄、包圍
  4. 保證、擔保。 例：包君滿意、包管沒事
  5. 負責。 例：一手包辦
  6. 承攬。 例：包商、包工

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

How 包 was written 字形演變

  1. 包 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  2. 包 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  3. 包 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: 包