白 bái — white; clear, plain; in vain, for nothing; Bai, a surname

bái

white; clear, plain; in vain, for nothing; Bai, a surname

5 strokesRadical 白Frequency #206

Words containing 白 Character writing lab Ask the AI tutor

Pinyin

bái (second tone, rising)

white; clear, plain; in vain, for nothing; Bai, a surname

Character breakdown

白shape partA single graph, and a radical in its own right. It is usually read as the sun 日 with a ray above it, though an acorn and a thumbnail have also been proposed; the oldest sense is genuinely unsettled.

Mnemonic

The usual reading is the sun 日 with a short stroke set above it: the first ray of daylight, and so "bright", then "white". Palaeographers have argued for other pictures and the question is still open, so hold on to the shape rather than the story — 日 with one stroke on the roof. Two senses beyond the colour are worth having early: 明白 is to understand clearly, and 白来了 means the trip was for nothing.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 白

Radical 白 — other characters

百bǎi (third tone, dipping)hundred; numerous, all kinds of