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保险 (bǎo xiǎn) — (noun) insurance; (adjective) safe, secure, reliable

Definition

The noun is 'insurance'; as an adjective it means 'safe/reliable', overlapping with 安全 but used more for actions or choices that guarantee a result (e.g. wearing a seatbelt is 保险).

noun
insurance
adjective
safesecurereliable
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • 保险。
    Wǒ mǎi le yì bǎo xiǎn rén shòu bǎo xiǎn.
    I bought a life insurance policy.
  • 保险。
    Kāi chē xì ān quán dài hěn bǎo xiǎn.
    It's very safe to wear a seatbelt when driving.
  • 保险。
    Nǐ bǎo xiǎn huì xǐ huan zhè jiā cān tīng de.
    You're bound to like this restaurant.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

保bǎoguard against
险xiǎndanger

保 means to guard against or ensure, and 险 refers to danger or risk, so the word means protection against danger.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 險; 险 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān險
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 險 pairs 阝, written in full as 阜, with 僉, which gives the sound; the simplified 险 is a shorthand.

Open 险 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Finance & Banking2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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