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白人 (bái rén) — White person; Caucasian

Definition

A neutral term for 'white person / Caucasian', paired with 黑人 ('Black person') when contrasting racial groups. Note that translated literally it can sound like 'white person' but it is a standard, everyday noun.

noun
White personCaucasian
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，白人。
    Zài niǔ yuē, nǐ néng kàn dào hěn duō bái rén.
    In New York, you can see many white people.
  • 白人。
    bái rén Hé hēi rén de wén huà yǒu hěn duō bù tóng.
    White and Black cultures have many differences.
  • 白人，。
    Tā shì bái rén, dàn tā de tài tai shì zhōng guó rén.
    He is white, but his wife is Chinese.

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.

白báiwhite
人rénperson

The color 白 and the person 人 give a white person.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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