比

Stroke order

Stroke order

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Radical 81 比

比 (Kangxi radical 81, 比+0, 4 strokes, cangjie input 心心 (PP), four-corner 2171₀, composition ⿰⿺𠄌一匕(GHT) or ⿻𠃏⿰一一(GHT) or ⿰⿱⺊㇀匕(JKV))

1. Kangxi radical #81, ⽐.

• Appendix:Chinese radical/比
• 仳, 吡, 㘩, 妣, 𫵏, 𢁦, 𢗽, 批, 沘, 𤜻, 阰, 𣅪, 枇, 𤘥, 玭, 肶, 䃾, 𤽊, 䀝, 𥎬, 砒, 秕, 𧘱, 粃, 紕(纰), 𬙌, 舭, 蚍, 𫋪, 𭙂, 䚹, 豼, 𧺲, 𧿥, 𨈚, 𬧱, 𨟵, 鈚(𬬫), 䩃, 𩉫, 𩨨, 魮, 𬸲, 𪌈, 𭻦
• 𠨒, 𨚍, 㩺, 𢻹, 𣢋, 𤿎, 𫖝, 𩲖, 𫚰, 坒, 𡗬, 𡛗, 𪫠, 𣅜, 枈, 毞, 𤘤, 皆, 㿫, 𭆛, 粊, 䘡, 𧣅, 𨋅, 𪟫, 𧔻
• 𬼚, 芘, 昆, 𤽏, 𥤻, 𦊁, 笓, 萞, 琵, 𩬈, 箆, 𠨽, 屁, 庇, 疪, 鹿, 䴡

• ひ (Hiragana character derived from Man'yōgana)
• ヒ (Katakana character derived from Man'yōgana)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 590, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 16743
• Dae Jaweon: page 982, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1415, character 8
• Unihan data for U+6BD4

Historical forms of the character 比
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 人 (“man”) + 人 – to juxtapose. 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”).

比

1. to compare; to contrast; to have a contest

   相比  ―  xiàngbǐ  ―  to compare

   比武  ―  bǐwǔ  ―  contest in martial arts skill

   別拿我跟別人比。 [MSC, trad.]
   别拿我跟别人比。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bié ná wǒ gēn biérén bǐ.

   Don't compare me to others.

   我們倆比一比，看誰跑得快！ [MSC, trad.]
   我们俩比一比，看谁跑得快！ [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen liǎ bǐ yī bǐ, kàn shéi pǎo de kuài!

   We shall have a race to see who runs faster!

   比上不足，比下有餘 [MSC, trad.]
   比上不足，比下有余 [MSC, simp.]

   bǐ shàng bùzú, bǐ xià yǒu yú

   to fall short of the best but be better than the worst

2. to liken; to draw an analogy to

   我們常把人生比作馬拉松。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们常把人生比作马拉松。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen cháng bǎ rénshēng bǐzuò mǎlāsōng.

   We always liken life to a marathon race.

   • 如果把蒙古族文化比作草原，那蒙古族服飾就是這片草原上最美的花朵。 [MSC, trad.]
     如果把蒙古族文化比作草原，那蒙古族服饰就是这片草原上最美的花朵。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 李振南 (2018 August 23) “融入生活是最好的传承”, in People's Daily (in Chinese), page 5

     Rúguǒ bǎ ménggǔzú wénhuà bǐzuò cǎoyuán, nà ménggǔzú fúshì jiùshì zhèpiàn cǎoyuán shàng zuì měi de huāduǒ.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. to emulate; to copy; to imitate
4. to match; to be equal

   比得上  ―  bǐdéshàng  ―  to compare favourably with

   今非昔比  ―  jīnfēixībǐ  ―  to no longer be what one was before (literally, “the present cannot compare with the past”)

   • 對於一名身邊没有親人陪伴的重症患者來說，再多的言語安慰也比不上手與手的相握。 [MSC, trad.]
     对于一名身边没有亲人陪伴的重症患者来说，再多的言语安慰也比不上手与手的相握。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 程煥 (2020 September 5) “白衣战士，用生命守护生命——记抗疫中的医务工作者”, in People's Daily (in Chinese), page 4

     Duìyú yīmíng shēnbiān méiyǒu qīnrén péibàn de zhòngzhèng huànzhě lái shuō, zài duō de yányǔ ānwèi yě bǐbùshàng shǒu yǔ shǒu de xiàng wò.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

5. to be the ratio of; ... to ...

   一比三  ―  yī bǐ sān  ―  1:3

6. indicating the score of a match

   現在幾比幾？／现在几比几？  ―  Xiànzài jǐ bǐ jǐ?  ―  What's the score now?

   甲隊以一比二敗給乙隊。 [MSC, trad.]
   甲队以一比二败给乙队。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jiǎ duì yǐ yī bǐ èr bài gěi yǐ duì.

   Team 甲 lost to team 乙 by 1 to 2.

7. to gesticulate; to gesture

   連說帶比／连说带比  ―  lián shuō dài bǐ  ―  to gesticulate as one talks

   比手畫腳／比手画脚  ―  bǐshǒuhuàjiǎo  ―  to illustrate with the help of gestures

8. metaphor; analogy
9. ratio; proportion

   師生比／师生比  ―  shīshēng bǐ  ―  teacher-student ratio

   性價比／性价比  ―  xìngjiàbǐ  ―  price–performance ratio

10. than; more ... than; -er compared to

    她比我高。  ―  Tā bǐ wǒ gāo.  ―  She is taller than me.

    今年夏天比去年熱多了。 [MSC, trad.]
    今年夏天比去年热多了。 [MSC, simp.]

    Jīnnián xiàtiān bǐ qùnián rè duō le.

    This summer is much hotter than the last one

    我妹妹比我小三歲。 [MSC, trad.]
    我妹妹比我小三岁。 [MSC, simp.]

    Wǒ mèimèi bǐ wǒ xiǎo sān suì.

    My sister is 3 years younger than me.

    • 耶和華神對蛇說，你既作了這事，就必受咒詛，比一切的牲畜野獸更甚。 [MSC, trad.]
      耶和华神对蛇说，你既作了这事，就必受咒诅，比一切的牲畜野兽更甚。 [MSC, simp.]

      Yēhéhuá shén duì shé shuō, nǐ jì zuò le zhè shì, jiù bì shòu zhòuzǔ, bǐ yīqiè de shēngchù yěshòu gèng shèn.

      The Lord God said unto the serpent: “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.”

    • 過番个人有處講　比咱唐山恰重難 [Hokkien, trad.]
      过番个人有处讲　比咱唐山恰重难 [Hokkien, simp.]

      From: 1916, 最新番平歌, page 1

      kè-hoan ê lâng ū tè káng, pí lán Tn̂g-soaⁿ khah tiōng-lân [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

      Those who have gone abroad are saying that it is more difficult than in our China

11. Used in transcription.

    莫三比克  ―  Mòsānbǐkè  ―  Mozambique

    英屬哥倫比亞／英属哥伦比亚  ―  Yīngshǔ Gēlúnbǐyà  ―  British Columbia

    比什凱克／比什凯克  ―  Bǐshénkǎikè  ―  Bishkek

    比薩／比萨  ―  bǐsà  ―  pizza

    史諾比／史诺比  ―  Shǐnuòbǐ  ―  Snoopy

    比卡超 [Cantonese]  ―  bei² kaa¹ ciu¹   ―  Pikachu

    1. Short for 比利時／比利时 (Bǐlìshí, “Belgium”).

       比屬剛果／比属刚果  ―  Bǐshǔ Gāngguǒ  ―  Belgian Congo

       比荷盧／比荷卢  ―  Bǐhélú  ―  Benelux

比

1. to be next to; to be near to; to stand close together; to lie next to
2. to cling to; to collude with
3. intimate; close; friendly
4. dense; closely packed
5. harmonious; melodious
6. all; completely
7. lately; recently
8. frequently; repeatedly
9. until; till
10. eighth hexagram of the I Ching

比

1. ^† Used in 比蒲 (“placename”).
2. ^† Used in 皋比 (gāopí, “tiger skin”).
3. ^† Used in 師比／师比 (shīpí, “ancient belt hook”).

比

1. ^† close; near
2. ^† dense; closely packed

比

1. ^† Alternative form of 庀 (pǐ, “to have; to possess”)

比

1. (Cantonese, colloquial) Alternative form of 畀

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: ひ (hi, Jōyō)、び (bi)
• Kan-on: ひ (hi, Jōyō)
• Kun: くらべる (kuraberu, 比べる, Jōyō)、ころ (koro, 比)、たぐい (tagui, 比い)^{←たぐひ (tagufi, 比ひ, historical)}
• Nanori: これ (kore)、たか (taka)、たすく (tasuku)、ちか (chika)、つね (tsune)、とも (tomo)、なみ (nami)、ひさ (hisa)

• (ratio, compare, equal, match): from Middle Chinese 比 (MC pjijX).
• (eighth hexagram of the I Ching): from Middle Chinese 比 (MC pjijH) or 比 (MC bjijH).
• (Philippines): short form of the ateji (当て字) spelling 比律賓(フィリピン) (Firipin).

比(ひ) • (hi) 

1. a ratio

• 比(ひ)を求(もと)める (hi o motomeru)
• 比(ひ)を見(み)ない (hi o minai)

比(ひ) • (hi) 

1. comparison, match, equal
2. ratio
3. Short for フィリピン (Firipin): the Philippines

(The following entry is uncreated: ころ.)

比 (eumhun 견줄 비 (gyeonjul bi))

1. hanja form^? of 비 (“comparison”)

比: Hán Nôm readings: tỉ, tị, tí, Bỉ

1. chữ Hán form of tỉ (“compare”).
2. chữ Hán form of Bỉ (“Belgium (a country in Western Europe that has borders with the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France)”).