保

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to defend; to protect; to keep; to guarantee; to ensure; (old) civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bao3 jia3] system

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

亻 meaning “person” + 呆 sound ( dāi )

Components 亻呆

safeguard · Heisig RSH #823

人 person + 呆 dim-witted

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
保山市	Bǎo shān Shì	Baoshan, prefecture-level city in Yunnan Province 雲南省\|云南省[Yun2 nan2 Sheng3]
保德县	Bǎo dé Xiàn	Baode, a county in Xinzhou City 忻州市[Xin1 zhou1 Shi4], Shanxi
德保县	Dé bǎo Xiàn	Debao, a county in Baise City 百色市[Bai3 se4 Shi4], Guangxi
海德保	Hǎi dé bǎo	Heidelberg (Germany)
保不定	bǎo bù dìng	more likely than not; quite possible; on the cards
人保	rén bǎo	personal guarantee; to sign as guarantor
保人	bǎo rén	guarantor; person paying bail
保山	Bǎo shān	see 保山市[Bao3 shan1 Shi4]
国保	Guó bǎo	Domestic Security Protection Bureau, the department of the Ministry of Public Security res…
保定市	Bǎo dìng Shì	Baoding, prefecture-level city in Hebei Province 河北省[He2 bei3 Sheng3]
中保	zhōng bǎo	middleman and guarantor
地保	dì bǎo	(old) local constable
保安人员	bǎo ān rén yuán	security personnel; member of police force
保尔	Bǎo ěr	Paul (name)
自保	zì bǎo	to defend oneself; self-defense; self-preservation
保加利亚	Bǎo jiā lì yà	Bulgaria
动保	dòng bǎo	animal protection (abbr. for 動物保護\|动物保护[dong4 wu4 bao3 hu4])
保有	bǎo yǒu	to keep; to retain
保安	Bǎo ān	Bonan ethnic group
保安	bǎo ān	to ensure public security; to ensure safety (for workers engaged in production); public se…