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比

Cantonese · source Jyutpingbei2#

Meanings · bei2

  1. (particle used for comparison and "-er than")
  2. to compare
  3. to contrast
  4. to gesture (with hands)
  5. ratio
  6. to be comparable to
  7. metaphor
  8. comparison
  9. to compete
  10. to match
Cantonese · source Jyutpingbei6#

Meanings · bei6

  1. close
  2. recent
  3. until
  4. till
  5. to stand close together
  6. to cling to
  7. to collude with
Cantonese · source Jyutpingbei3#

Meanings · bei3

  1. close
  2. recent
  3. until
  4. till
  5. to stand close together
  6. to cling to
  7. to collude with
About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

bei碑bei1a monument彼bei2that秘bei3secretbei4—bei5—备bei6to prepare

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

比

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese entries with 比 ↗

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

  • 比 Bǐ CC-CEDICT · MandarinBelgium; Belgian; abbr. for 比利時 Bǐ lì shí
  • 比 bī CC-CEDICT · Mandarineuphemistic variant of 屄 bī
  • 比 bǐ CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto compare; (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun}; ratio; to gesture; (Taiwan pr. bì in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese)

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: bi3. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 29 senses · 4 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bei2 · bei3 · bei6 · pei4

Cantonese word readings for 比. 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

  1. to compare; to contrast; to have a contest
  2. to liken; to draw an analogy to
  3. to emulate; to copy; to imitate
  4. to match; to be equal
  5. to be the ratio of; ... to ...
  6. indicating the score of a match
  7. to gesticulate; to gesture
  8. metaphor; analogy
  9. ratio; proportion
  10. than; more ... than; -er compared to
  11. Used in transcription.
  12. (abbreviation, alt-of) Used in transcription. — short for 比利時／比利时 (Bǐlìshí): Belgium (a country in Western Europe that has borders with the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France)

character · Etymology 1

  1. to be next to; to be near to; to stand close together; to lie next to
  2. to cling to; to collude with
  3. intimate; close; friendly
  4. dense; closely packed
  5. harmonious; melodious
  6. all; completely
  7. lately; recently
  8. frequently; repeatedly
  9. until; till
  10. eighth hexagram of the I Ching

character · Etymology 1

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 比蒲 (“placename”)
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 皋比 (gāopí, “tiger skin”)
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) used in 師比／师比 (shīpí, “ancient belt hook”)

character · Etymology 1

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) close; near
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) dense; closely packed

character · Etymology 1

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 庀 (pǐ, “to have; to possess”)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (Cantonese, colloquial) alternative form of 畀

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

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

CC-Canto · Pleco Inc. · edition 2017-02-02
Source lines 29,468, 29,469, 29,470 · Original publisher · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edition & transformations

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Original source comment: adapted from cc-cedict

Mandarin comparison: CC-CEDICT 2026-10-13, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source reading differences and six-tone sets: computed by zimai from Unihan 17.0.0 (Unicode License V3).

Exact source records & identity比 比 [bi3] {bei2} /(particle used for comparison and "-er than")/to compare/to contrast/to gesture (with hands)/ratio/to be comparable to/metaphor/comparison/to compete/to match/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: c908115121a035c3789a55a7cd38f1f4bdc5f1bb30110b22f8ff08d8f3df6b64

比 比 [bi3] {bei6} /close/recent/until/till/to stand close together/to cling to/to collude with/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: ec5211fbce5316fb53710c284239dfde95eaa2843b754ac8352af25479276b8e

比 比 [bi3] {bei3} /close/recent/until/till/to stand close together/to cling to/to collude with/ # adapted from cc-cedict

SHA-256: ffa828ca937c1b50238d1c35cfefb443ff7ff34c892e62d59e54e1c6d5997357