破败 (pò bài) — ruined, dilapidated

Definition

adjective
ruineddilapidated

Examples

  • 破败。
    Zhè zuò lǎo fáng zi yǐ jīng pò bài bù kān le.
    This old house is already dilapidated beyond repair.
  • ，破败。
    Jīng guò duō nián de zhàn zhēng, zhè zuò chéng shì biàn de shí fēn pò bài.
    After years of war, this city became very ruined.
  • 破败。
    Nà ge cūn zhuāng de pò bài jǐng xiàng ràng rén gǎn dào bēi shāng.
    The dilapidated scene of that village makes people feel sad.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

破pòbroken
败bàiruined

破 means broken and 败 means decayed; together they describe something ruined and dilapidated.

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
石石shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí破pò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

破 has 石 (stone) as its meaning part and 皮 as its sound part.

Open 破 →

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 敗; 败 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūstrike
Sound part声符shēngfú
貝
貝bèi敗bài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敗 has 貝 as the sound component and 攴 (written 攵) meaning strike. The simplified 败 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 败 →

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