蔽 (bì) — to cover; to shelter; to conceal; (bound form) used in compounds meaning 'cover, shelter, conceal'
Definition
蔽 (bì) is a bound morpheme meaning 'to cover, hide, or conceal' — almost never used alone, but it forms many common verbs (隐蔽, 遮蔽, 蒙蔽). It is more literary than the everyday 盖 gài or 藏 cáng.
bound form
to coverto shelterto concealused in compounds meaning 'covershelterconceal'
Easily confused
- 敝bìlook-alike(humble attributive) my; our (used before nouns to refer to one's own belongings, company, or surname)
- 闭bìsound-aliketo close, to shut
- 必bìsound-alikecertainly; must; necessarily; will (expressing necessity or certainty)
- 毙bìsound-aliketo die (violently, especially by shooting or execution)
- 避bìsound-aliketo avoid; to evade; to keep away from; to shun
- 毕bìsound-alike(bound form) to finish, to complete
Examples
- ，。Zhè ge shān dòng hěn yǐn bì, bù róng yì bèi fā xiàn.This cave is very hidden and not easy to be discovered.
- ，。Wū yún zhē bì le tài yáng, tiān àn le xià lái.Dark clouds covered the sun, and the sky darkened.
- 。Bú yào bèi tā de huǎng yán méng bì le.Don't be deceived by his lies.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
艸艸cǎograss
蔽 combines 艸 (grass) with 敝, which gives the sound.
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