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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

比

bǐ
to compare; to contrast; to have a contest
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 比
  • 4 strokes

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  • derived
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Origin

Chu Wan-li (1948): Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *piʔ, *pis, *bi, *bis, *biɡ): phonetic 匕 (OC *pilʔ) + phonetic 匕 (OC *pilʔ).

Shuowen interprets it as an ideogrammic compound meaning to juxtapose. Graphically similar but unrelated to 从, 尼, 化 and 北.

Perhaps from a Proto-Sino-Tibetan *phi-r/n/s (“late, behind, after, outside”) (STEDT root #5883). Cognate with 頻 (OC *bin, “several in succession”); outside of Sinitic, compare Proto-Naga *pʰaːy (“after”), as well as possibly Burmese ပြင် (prang, “outside”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*phi-r/n/s “late, behind, after, outside”
  • soundChinese匕 “a kind of spoon in ancient China”

Related: Burmese ပြင်

Words built on it: 比如, 比例, 批, 相比, 比賽

Meanings

character
  1. to compare; to contrast; to have a contest
  2. to liken; to draw an analogy to
  3. to emulate; to copy; to imitate
  4. to match; to be equal
  5. to be the ratio of; ... to ...
  6. indicating the score of a match

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

比：密也。二人爲从，反从爲比。凡比之屬皆从比。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. →皋比

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

How 比 was written 字形演變

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