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大笔 (dà bǐ) — (noun) a large sum (of money), usually with 钱; (noun) a bold stroke (in writing or drawing); (noun, polite) your esteemed writing / handwriting

Definition

大笔 (dà bǐ) means 'a large sum (of money)' or 'a bold stroke' — in writing, it is a polite way to refer to someone's calligraphy ('your esteemed pen'). The measure word 笔 groups these senses together.

noun
a large sum (of money)usually with 钱a bold stroke (in writing or drawing)(noun, polite) your esteemed writing / handwriting
Measure word · 笔

Examples

  • 大笔。
    Tā huā le yí dà bǐ qián mǎi xià nà dòng fáng zi.
    He spent a large sum of money to buy that house.
  • 大笔，。
    dà bǐ Yì huī, tā jiù xiě hǎo le duì lián.
    With a stroke of the pen, he finished writing the couplet.
  • 大笔，。
    Qǐng nín liú xià dà bǐ, ràng wǒ men zhēn cáng.
    Please leave your esteemed handwriting for us to treasure.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

大dàlarge
笔bǐpen

The 大, meaning large, and the 笔, meaning pen or writing, together can politely refer to someone's handwriting.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 筆; 笔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù筆bǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 笔 is based on the traditional form 筆, which puts 竹 (bamboo) beside 聿 (writing brush). 聿 already meant the brush and supplied the sound; 竹 was added later to show it was made of bamboo.

Open 笔 →
Appears in
Money & Currency

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