败 (bài) — to lose, to be defeated; to defeat, to beat; to fail, to be unsuccessful
Definition
败 (bài) is a short, somewhat literary verb used both for 'losing/being defeated' and 'defeating (someone)'. Compare 失败 ('fail' — broader, also an adjective) and 打败 ('defeat' — colloquial, more concrete 'beat someone').
verb
to loseto be defeatedto defeatto beatto failto be unsuccessful
Examples
- ，败。Zài jué sài zhōng, tā men bài gěi le duì shǒu.In the finals, they lost to their opponent.
- 。Tā chéng gōng jī bài le duì shǒu.He successfully defeated his opponent.
- 。Zhè cì shí yàn wán quán shī bài le.This experiment completely failed.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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.
Appears in
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