DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

播

Mandarin · pinyin bō

(bound form) to sow (seeds); to spread (ideas, rumors etc); to broadcast (radio signals etc)
Taiwan pr. bò

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

播: bō · sow, spread; broadcast; cast away, reject

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1 · bo1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

1character link32same-tone records

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

播 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bo3

Cantonese word readings for 播. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character · Etymology 1

to sow; to seed
to broadcast; to spread
(literary) to move about; to remove; to migrate; to go into exile
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to scatter

character · Etymology 2

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 簸 (“toss up and down”)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack