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拍卖 (pāi mài) — to auction, to sell at auction

Definition

拍卖 is a specific kind of selling: items go to the highest bidder. 出售 is the general word for selling anything at a set price.

verb
to auctionto sell at auction

Examples

  • 拍卖。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī xià zhōu yào pāi mài yì pī gǔ dǒng jiā jù.
    This company will auction a batch of antique furniture next week.
  • 拍卖，。
    Nà fú huà zuó tiān bèi pāi mài le, chéng jiāo jià hěn gāo.
    That painting was auctioned yesterday, and the hammer price was very high.
  • 拍卖。
    Tā men jué dìng zài xiàn shàng pāi mài zhè xiē shōu cáng pǐn.
    They decided to auction these collectibles online.

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.

拍pāistrike
卖màisell

'拍' points to striking the auction board, and '卖' means to sell; together they mean selling by auction.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái拍pāi
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拍 puts 手 (hand) beside 白, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 拍 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賣; 卖 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 賣 came from an older shape that joined 出 (go out) with 買 (buy), which gives the sound. The simplified 卖 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 卖 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Business & Commerce

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