補

See also: 补

補	U+88DC, 補 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-88DC

← 裛
[U+88DB]

CJK Unified Ideographs

裝 →
[U+88DD]

Translingual

Han character

補 (Kangxi radical 145, 衣+7, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中戈十月 (LIJB), four-corner 3322₇, composition ⿰衤甫)

Derived characters

𡀨, 𠬕, 𠬖, 𨗗, 𮑱

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 1117, character 30
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34320
Dae Jaweon: page 1583, character 22
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3093, character 5
Unihan data for U+88DC

Chinese

trad.		補
simp.		补

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (甫) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
豧	pʰoːs, pʰa, *pʰas
縛	baːɡs, baɡ
逋	*paː
餔	paː, baːs
晡	*paː
庯	*paː
陠	paː, pʰaː
鵏	paː, baːs
峬	*paː
誧	paː, pʰaː, pʰaːʔ, pʰaːs
秿	paː, pʰa, *baʔ
鯆	paː, pʰaː, *paʔ
補	*paːʔ
圃	paːʔ, paːs
鋪	pʰaː, pʰaːs, *pʰa
痡	pʰaː, pʰa
浦	*pʰaːʔ
烳	*pʰaːʔ
溥	pʰaːʔ, paːɡ
悑	*pʰaːs
酺	*baː
匍	*baː
蜅	baː, paʔ
脯	baː, paʔ
葡	*baː
蒱	*baː
蒲	*baː
簿	baːʔ, baːɡ
捕	*baːs
哺	*baːs
簠	pa, paʔ, *pʰas
甫	*paʔ
黼	*paʔ
莆	*paʔ
俌	paʔ, pʰaʔ
郙	paʔ, pʰa
傅	*paɡs
搏	paɡs, paːɡ, *pʰaːɡ
麱	*pʰa
尃	*pʰa
榑	*ba
輔	*baʔ
鬴	*baʔ
賻	*baɡs
博	*paːɡ
髆	*paːɡ
鎛	*paːɡ
猼	*paːɡ
餺	*paːɡ
簙	*paːɡ
鑮	paːɡ, baːɡ
欂	paːɡ, baɡ, *breːɡ
蒪	*pʰaːɡ
膊	*pʰaːɡ
薄	*baːɡ
礡	*baːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *paːʔ): semantic 衤 (“clothes”) + phonetic 甫 (OC *paʔ).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s/m-p(ʷ)a (“to patch; to mend; to sew”) (STEDT); compare Burmese ဖာ (hpa, “to patch; to mend”), Jingpho pa (pa³¹, “mended”).

According to Schuessler (2007), 補 (OC *paːʔ) is an area word; compare Khmer ប៉ះ (pah, “to mend; to patch; to fix”), Proto-Vietic *k-paːʔ (“to repair; to sew”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bǔ (bu³)

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bou²
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): pú

(Meixian, Guangdong): bu³
Eastern Min (BUC): buō
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): bou³
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): pó͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): bou²
Wu (Northern, Wugniu): ⁵pu / ³pu

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bǔ
  - Wade–Giles: pu³
  - Yale: bǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buu
  - Palladius: бу (bu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu²¹⁴/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: bou²
  - Yale: bóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: bou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pou̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: pú
  - Hakka Romanization System: bu^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: bu³
  - Sinological IPA: /pu³¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: bu³
  - Sinological IPA: /pu³¹/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: buō
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puo³³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: bou³
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: bô
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɔu⁴⁵³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: bou³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɔu³³²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pó͘
  - Tâi-lô: póo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: por
  - IPA (Xiamen): /pɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /pɔ⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /pɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /pɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /pɔ⁴¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: bou²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: póu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pou⁵²/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁵pu
  - MiniDict: pu^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²pu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /pu³⁴/
- (Northern: Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo)
  - Wugniu: ³pu
  - MiniDict: pu^上
  - Sinological IPA (Suzhou): /pu⁵¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Hangzhou): /pu⁵³/
  - Sinological IPA (Ningbo): /pu³²⁵/

Middle Chinese: puX

Rime
Character	補
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	博古切
Baxter	puX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/puo^X/
Pan Wuyun	/puo^X/
Shao Rongfen	/po^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pɔ^X/
Li Rong	/po^X/
Wang Li	/pu^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/puo^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bou²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[Cə]-pˤaʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*paːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	補
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ pu^X ›
Old Chinese	/*[Cə]-pˁaʔ/
English	to patch
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	補
Reading #	1/1
No.	3420
Phonetic component	甫
Rime group	魚
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	補
Old Chinese	/*paːʔ/

Definitions

補

to mend; to repair; to fix
補衫／补衫 [Cantonese] ― bou² saam¹ [Jyutping] ― to mend clothes
to compensate; to recompense; to make up for
補償／补偿 ― bǔcháng ― to compensate

彌補／弥补 ― míbǔ ― to make up for a loss
to add; to augment; to increase; to raise
to make up for a deficiency; to nourish
補鈣／补钙 ― bǔgài ― to counteract a calcium deficiency
benefit; profit; advantage
(transgender slang) Short for 補佳樂／补佳乐 (“Progynova”); E (estrogen)
- 去隔壁開兩盒補，吃完就給進～ [MSC, trad.]
  去隔壁开两盒补，吃完就给进～ [MSC, simp.]
  From: 2020 August 24, Aphrodite 的想法: 去隔壁开两盒补，吃完就给进～ - 知乎
  qù gébì kāi liǎng hé bǔ, chī wán jiù gěi jìn ~ [Pinyin]
  he should get 2 boxes of E from the place around the corner, and after he's taken it all they'll let him in :P
- 各位靠補+色 hrt 的朋友們請注意檢測自己的 E2/E1 比例 [MSC, trad.]
  各位靠补+色 hrt 的朋友们请注意检测自己的 E2/E1 比例 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 2020 November 28, KhloeKkkkkkkk 的想法: 各位靠补+色hrt的朋友们请注意检测自己的… - 知乎
  gèwèi kào bǔ + sè hrt de péngyǒu men qǐng zhùyì jiǎncè zìjǐ de E2 / E1 bǐlì [Pinyin]
  to all friends who are on E and cypro for HRT! please remember to get your E1:E2 ratios tested!
a surname, Bu

Synonyms

(to mend):

edit

保養 / 保养 (bǎoyǎng)
修 (xiū)
修理 (xiūlǐ)
修補 / 修补 (xiūbǔ)
拾掇 (shíduo) (colloquial)
擺劃 / 摆划 (bǎihua) (regional)
擺弄 / 摆弄 (colloquial)
收拾
整 (zhěng)
整治 (zhěngzhì)
檢修 / 检修 (jiǎnxiū)
維修 / 维修 (wéixiū)
補修 / 补修 (bǔxiū)

(to compensate):

edit

抵償 / 抵偿 (dǐcháng)
當賠匠 / 当赔匠 (dan¹ bei² zian⁵) (Xiang, humorous)
補償 / 补偿 (bǔcháng)
賠償 / 赔偿 (péicháng)

(to add):

edit

加 (jiā)
加上 (jiāshàng)
加多 (jiāduō)
加大 (jiādà)
加添 (jiātiān)
增 (zēng)
增加 (zēngjiā)
增多 (zēngduō)
增添 (zēngtiān)
增益 (zēngyì)
增長 / 增长 (zēngzhǎng)
廣益 / 广益 (guǎngyì) (literary)
施
添加 (tiānjiā)
附益 (fùyì) (literary)

(to make up for a deficiency): 補養／补养 (bǔyǎng)
(benefit):

edit

利益 (lìyì)
好處 / 好处
實利 / 实利 (shílì)
惠 (huì) (literary, or in compounds)
收益 (shōuyì)
甜頭 / 甜头 (Jin)
益處 / 益处 (yìchù)
肥 (féi) (usually derogatory)
補益 / 补益 (bǔyì)
裨益 (bìyì)

Compounds

References

“補”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
“補”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Japanese

Kanji

補

(Sixth grade kyōiku kanji)

supplement

Readings

Korean

Hanja

補 (eumhun 도울 보 (doul bo))
補 (eumhun 기울 보 (giul bo))

hanja form^? of 보 (“mend, patch, fix, repair, restore”)

Compounds

보하다 (補―, bohada, “to strengthen”)
보조 (補助, bojo, “help, aid”)
보조하다 (補助―, bojohada, “to help, aid”)
보조사 (補助詞, bojosa, “accessory word, complement”)
보조자 (補助者, bojoja, “assistant”)
보좌 (補佐, bojwa, “assistance”)
시보 (試補, sibo, “probationary”)
보강 (補强, bogang, “reinforcement”)
보강하다 (補强―, boganghada, “to reinforce”)
보충 (補充, bochung, “supplement”)
보충하다 (補充―, bochunghada, “to supplement, replenish”)
보청기 (補聽器, bocheonggi, “hearing aid”)
보완 (補完, bowan, “supplementation”)
보완하다 (補完―, bowanhada, “to make up for, supplement”)
보급 (補給, bogeup, “supply”)
보급하다 (補給―, bogeuphada, “to supply”)
보수 (補修, bosu, “restoration, repair”)
보수하다 (補修―, bosuhada, “to restore, repair”)
보정 (補正, bojeong, “revision, correction”)
보정하다 (補正―, bojeonghada, “to revise, correct”)
후보 (候補, hubo, “candidate”)

Vietnamese

Han character

補: Hán Nôm readings: bổ, bó, bỏ, bõ, bủa, bù, vỏ, bồ

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