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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

抱

bào
to heft in the arms; to carry
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 4
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 手
  • 8 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • derived
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  • meaning component
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Origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *buːʔ): semantic 扌 + phonetic 包 (OC *pruː) – hold in one’s hands. Note that 包 has the meaning of “wrap”, hence connotations of “wrap in one’s hands, embrace”, thereby also making it an ideogrammic compound.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *puʔ (“to carry (on back or shoulders)”). Cognate with 保 (OC *puːʔ, “to protect, rear”), Manipuri ꯄꯨ (pu, “to carry”), Mizo pu (“to carry (on the back / shoulders)”), Burmese ပိုး (pui:, “to carry on the back, add onto”) (STEDT).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*puʔ “to carry (on back or shoulders)”
  • meaningChinese手 “hand (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn; 雙／双 m mn; 對／对 c)”
  • soundChinese包 “to wrap up; to enwrap; to bundle up”

Related: Manipuri ꯄꯨ, Mizo pu, Burmese ပိုး

Words built on it: 抱怨

Meanings

character
  1. to heft in the arms; to carry
  2. to hug; to embrace
  3. to incubate
  4. Classifier for things held or encircled with both arms (books, hay, firewood, trees, etc.).
  5. a surname

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 用手臂與身體其他部位圍持住。 例：擁抱、抱孩子、抱薪救火　◎
  2. 懷藏在心。 例：抱怨、抱歉、抱著理想
  3. 緊守。 例：抱殘守缺
  4. 孵。 例：抱窩、抱小雞
  5. 量詞。計算兩臂可圍持的單位。 例：一抱草、一抱書

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

How 抱 was written 字形演變

  1. 抱 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  2. 抱 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  3. 抱 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
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 抱