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陛下 (bì xià) — (honorific pronoun, historical) Your Majesty / His/Her Majesty (used for an emperor)

Definition

Honorific pronoun historically used to address an emperor directly — like 'Your Majesty' in English. It is a fixed, formal title, not a general word for rulers.

pronoun
(honorific pronoun, historical) Your Majesty / His/Her Majesty (used for an emperor)

Examples

  • 陛下，。
    bì xià, Chén yǒu shì qǐ zòu.
    Your Majesty, I have a matter to report.
  • 陛下。
    bì xià Xià lìng kāi cāng fàng liáng.
    His Majesty ordered the granaries opened to distribute grain.
  • 陛下！
    bì xià Wàn suì wàn suì wàn wàn suì!
    Long live His Majesty!

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.

陛bìpalace steps
下xiàbelow

陛 names the palace steps and 下 names below, referring to the person below them.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
坒
坒bì陛bì
Same sound today

陛 puts the left part 阝, which is 阜 in full form, beside 坒; 阜 is the part tied to the meaning, and 坒 gives the sound.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

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