俯 (fǔ): to look down at

Meanings

1 to look down at
2 to stoop
3 to bend over
4 to condescend

Characters

俯

fǔ

to look down, to stoop

Examples

他俯身捡起地上的钱包。

Tā fǔshēn jiǎn qǐ dìshàng de qiánbāo.

He bent down to pick up the wallet on the ground.

站在山顶，可以俯瞰整座城市。

Zhàn zài shāndǐng, kěyǐ fǔkàn zhěng zuò chéngshì.

Standing at the mountain top, you can look down over the entire city.

Tips

usage

俯 is commonly seen in compound verbs: 俯瞰 (to overlook/look down at), 俯视 (to look down at), 俯卧 (to lie face down). The opposite direction verb is 仰 (to look upward).

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical form of 人)

Left person radical (side-form of 人, Kangxi #9) — a standing figure shown from the side. Anchors 俯 in the body-posture family with 仰 (look up), 倒 (fall over), 卧 (lie down), 立 (stand), 坐 (sit). The radical tells the reader the character names a position or action of the human body.

phonetic

府 fǔ

government office; mansion (here phonetic)

Right 府 supplies the sound — fǔ unchanged. 府 itself depicts a building with stored goods (广 + 付), originally the treasury; here the meaning doesn't carry. Pure phonetic. Same phonetic gives 腑 (bowels), 腐 (rot — inner change). The pair 俯仰 'bow and look up' captures the full vertical range of head motion.