保底 (bǎo dǐ) — (v.o.) to guarantee a minimum (wage, bonus, prize, etc.); to set a floor

Definition

保底 (bǎo dǐ) means to guarantee a minimum or floor on something like wages, bonuses, or prizes — common in workplace and business contexts.

verb
(v.o.) to guarantee a minimum (wage, bonus, prize, etc.)to set a floor

Examples

  • 保底。
    Gōng sī gěi yuán gōng tí gōng bǎo dǐ gōng zī.
    The company provides a guaranteed minimum wage for employees.
  • 保底，。
    Zhè ge chōu jiǎng huó dòng yǒu bǎo dǐ jī zhì, chōu mǎn yì bǎi cì bì dé dà jiǎng.
    This lottery event has a guaranteed minimum mechanism — after 100 draws you're guaranteed the grand prize.
  • ，。
    Suī rán jīn nián yè jì bù hǎo, dàn gōng sī hái shì gěi wǒ men bǎo le dǐ.
    Although this year's performance was poor, the company still guaranteed us a minimum.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

保bǎoguarantee
底dǐbottom

保 means guarantee and 底 means bottom, so the word expresses ensuring a floor.

Characters in this word

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →

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