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拜拜 (bài bài) — (verb) to bow with hands together (as a gesture of worship); (noun) a worshipping festival (especially in Taiwan)

Definition

"Bai bai" (拜拜) is also a casual, everyday loanword for "bye-bye" borrowed from English — used in Mainland casual speech to mean goodbye, separate from the religious sense of bowing in worship.

verb
to bow with hands together (as a gesture of worship)
noun
a worshipping festival (especially in Taiwan)

Examples

  • ，拜拜。
    Měi nián nóng lì qī yuè, tái wān hěn duō dì fāng dōu huì jǔ xíng bài bài huó dòng.
    Every year in the seventh lunar month, many places in Taiwan hold worship festivals.
  • 拜拜，。
    Xìn tú men zài miào qián bài bài, qí qiú píng ān.
    Believers bow with hands together in front of the temple, praying for peace.
  • 拜拜。
    Zhè ge bài bài shì dāng dì zuì zhòng yào de zōng jiào jié rì.
    This worship festival is the most important religious holiday in the area.

Origin

Reduplicated word
构词法gòucífǎ
重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

拜bàibow; worship
拜bàibow; worship

拜 means to bow or worship; the doubled form gives a word for the act or festival.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

拜 combines 扌 (hand, written fully as 手) with 𠦪 (herbs), showing a hand holding herbs as a gift.

Open 拜 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

拜 combines 扌 (hand, written fully as 手) with 𠦪 (herbs), showing a hand holding herbs as a gift.

Open 拜 →
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