败者 (bài zhě) — loser, defeated person

Definition

noun
loserdefeated person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，败者。
    Zài bǐ sài zhōng, bài zhě wǎng wǎng shì zuì bù gān xīn de rén.
    In competitions, losers are often the most reluctant people.
  • 败者。
    Zhè cì xuǎn jǔ de bài zhě bìng méi yǒu fàng qì.
    The loser of this election did not give up.
  • ，败者。
    Lì shǐ shì yóu shèng lì zhě shū xiě de, dàn bài zhě de gù shi tóng yàng zhí dé qīng tīng.
    History is written by the victors, but the stories of the defeated are equally worth listening to.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

败bàidefeat
者zhěone who

败 'defeat' and 者 'one who' build the idea of a defeated person.

Characters in this word

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 敗; 败 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūstrike
Sound part声符shēngfú
貝
貝bèi敗bài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敗 has 貝 as the sound component and 攴 (written 攵) meaning strike. The simplified 败 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 败 →

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

The form 者 originally drew a sugarcane with full stems, small points around it, and an open smiling mouth at the bottom.

Open 者 →

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