部

Mandarin · pinyin bù

Meanings

  1. ministry
  2. department
  3. section
  4. part
  5. division
  6. troops
  7. board
  8. classifier for works of literature, films, machines etc
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Characters in this entry

部
bù · part, division, section
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · bu4

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1character link34same-tone records
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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bou6

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

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

character

  1. part; division; section
  2. department; ministry
  3. (historical) An administrative division governed by a ministry.
  4. Classifier for works of literature, films, machines (cars, telephones...), etc. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

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

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