白
Tap the pinyin to hear it
white; in vain; free of charge; (bound form) (of facts, the truth, a situation) clear; evident (e.g. 真相大白[zhen1 xiang4 da4 bai2]); (bound form) plain; without additions (e.g. 白飯|白饭[bai2 fan4]); (bound form) to explain; to state (e.g. 辯白|辩白[bian4 bai2]); (bound form) to give a disdainful look (e.g. 白了他一眼[bai2 le5 ta1 yi1 yan3]); (bound form) vernacular (e.g. 白話|白话[bai2 hua4]); (bound form) spoken lines in opera (e.g. 念白[nian4 bai2]); (bound form) reactionary; anti-communist (e.g. 白區|白区[bai2 qu1])
- HSK 3.0
- Level 1
- Old HSK
- Level 2
- Strokes
- 5
- Radical
- 白 itself
- Structure
- Overlaid 叠加
- Traditional
- 白
- Common rank
- #30
- Unicode
- U+767D
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How 白 is formed
Ideographic compound (会意字)
A burning candle; the rays of the sun
How to remember it
white · Heisig RSH #34
sun + a drop of — as a component also called: white, white bird, dove
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 白
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 白天 | daytime; during the day; day; CL:個|个[ge4] | |
| 明白 | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable; to understand; to realize | |
| 白水县 | Baishui, a county in Weinan City 渭南市[Wei4 nan2 Shi4], Shaanxi | |
| 白子 | white Go chess piece; bee pupa; albino | |
| 白山市 | Baishan, prefecture-level city in Jilin Province 吉林省[Ji2 lin2 Sheng3] | |
| 大白 | (of facts or truth) to become fully revealed; to come to light; (old) wine cup; (coll.) wh… | |
| 白人 | white man or woman; Caucasian | |
| 白头山 | Baekdu or Changbai mountains 長白山|长白山, volcanic mountain range between Jilin province and N… | |
| 白区 | White area (territory controlled by the KMT during the Second Revolutionary War, 1927–1937… | |
| 大白天 | in broad daylight | |
| 白山 | see 白山市[Bai2 shan1 Shi4] | |
| 白水 | see 白水縣|白水县[Bai2 shui3 Xian4] | |
| 白水 | plain water | |
| 白头 | hoary head; old age | |
| 自白 | confession; to make clear one's position or intentions; to brag | |
| 电白区 | Dianbai, a district of Maoming City 茂名市[Mao4 ming2 Shi4], Guangdong | |
| 小白 | (slang) novice; greenhorn; (old) (slang) fool; idiot; abbr. for 小白臉|小白脸[xiao3 bai2 lian3],… | |
| 长白县 | see 長白朝鮮族自治縣|长白朝鲜族自治县[Chang2 bai2 Chao2 xian3 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4] | |
| 白海 | White Sea | |
| 白白 | in vain; to no purpose; for nothing; white |
Sound family
These characters use 白 as their sound component — compare how they read.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 白 sound part | white; clear, pure, unblemished; bright | |
| 百 | one hundred; numerous, many | |
| 伯 | older brother; father's elder brother; sir, sire, count | |
| 拍 | to clap, to tap; to hit, to beat, to slap; beat, rhythm | |
| 柏 | cypress, cedar | |
| 怕 | to fear, to be afraid of; apprehensive | |
| 迫 | to compel, to force; pressing, urgent | |
| 泊 | to anchor; to moor | |
| 魄 | vigor, soul, body; the dark side of the moon | |
| 帛 | silk, fabric; wealth, property | |
| 舶 | large ship, ocean-going vessel | |
| 粕 | sediment, lees, dregs | |
| 铂 | platinum; thin sheet metal |