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北

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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

北

  • běi Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Pinyin
  • bò (bei³, bo⁴) Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Pinyin
  • ㄅㄟˇ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Bopomofo
  • ㄅㄛˋ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Bopomofo
  • be² Mandarin, Chengdu, Sichuanese
  • бый (bɨj, I) Mandarin, Dongan, Cyrillic
  • bak¹ Cantonese, Guangzhou, Hong Kong
  • bak² Cantonese, Taishanese, Wiktionary specific
  • bet⁶ Gan, Wiktionary specific
  • pet Hakka, Sixian, Phak fa su
  • bêd⁵ Hakka, 梅縣, 客家話拼音
  • bei² Jin, Wiktionary specific
  • bieh⁴ Jin, Wiktionary specific
  • bă̤ Min Bei, 建寧羅馬字
  • báe̤k Min Dong, Foochow Romanized
  • pak Min Nan, Hokkien, Phak fa su
  • pok Min Nan, Hokkien, Phak fa su
  • bag⁴ Min Nan, Teochew, Peng'im
  • ⁷poq Wu, Shanghai, Wugniu
  • be⁶ Xiang, Changsha, Wiktionary specific
  • běi Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China
  • ㄅㄟˇ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China
  • pei³ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China
  • beei Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China
  • бэй Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China
  • /peɪ̯²¹⁴/ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Mainland China
  • bò Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Pinyin
  • bèi (bei⁴) Mandarin, Pinyin
  • ㄅㄟˋ Mandarin, Bopomofo
  • bui³ Cantonese, Jyutping
  • bèi Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Pinyin
  • ㄅㄟˋ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Bopomofo
  • bèi Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Tongyong Pinyin
  • pei⁴ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Wade–Giles
  • bèi Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Yale
  • bey Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Gwoyeu Romatsyh
  • бэй Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Cyrillic
  • /peɪ̯⁵¹/ Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA
  • bui³ Cantonese, Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou
  • bui Cantonese, Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou
  • /puːi̯³³/ Cantonese, Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou

Where it comes from

會意漢字 – 兩個背對背的人。背 (上古 *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs)的本字。

繼承自原始漢藏語 *ba (“揹在背上；肩膀”)。

方向的釋義來自“背部”：「背部」 → 「轉背；撤退」 → 「北方」。

古中國重視南方，房屋坐北朝南，故人面向南方時，背對北

對照南 (上古 *nuːm)的字源（Sagart, 1988）。

釋義 业 · 𧉥

  1. 方位名，與“南”相對，為地球上從南極指向北極的方向 北移
  2. 向北去
  3. 失敗，敗逃 敗北
  4. 敗逃者
  5. 落第，考試失利

釋義 业 · 𧉥

  1. obsolete 背 (bèi, “背部；背叛”)的本字。

In English

  • north compass point
  • Kita one of special wards that forms Tokyo

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"北." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/zh/%E5%8C%97. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

北. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/zh/%E5%8C%97

Chicago

"北." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/zh/%E5%8C%97.

BibTeX
@misc{micwyn_2026,
  title = {北},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/zh/%E5%8C%97},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}