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博

bó
adjective #3,542

Meanings

  1. 1 abundant; plentiful; rich
  2. 2 to win; to gain
  3. 3 learned; erudite

Examples

他博学多才。
Tā bóxuéduōcái.
He is learned and talented.
博物馆里有很多古代文物。
Bówùguǎn lǐ yǒu hěnduō gǔdài wénwù.
The museum has many ancient artifacts.
这篇文章博得了大家的好评。
Zhè piān wénzhāng bódé le dàjiā de hǎopíng.
This article won everyone's praise.

Tips

usage
博 appears in many common compounds: 博物馆 (museum), 博士 (PhD/doctor), 博客 (blog), 赌博 (to gamble).
memory
The 十 (ten) on top suggests 'many' — someone who knows ten things is learned and abundant in knowledge.

Components

radical
十 shí
ten; many
Left 十 — the indexing radical. Originally a vertical stroke with a knot or beam-mark, used as the symbol for 'ten' and by extension 'complete, all, many.' Here it carries the 'broad, abundant' sense in 博: ten covers the full set, hence wide-ranging knowledge.
phonetic
尃 fū
to spread out; phonetic element
Right 尃 supplies the sound (fū → bó, a regular labial alternation in the same phonetic family). 尃 itself depicts a hand (寸) spreading something (甫). The original sense 'spread wide' resonates with 博's 'broad, ample, extensive.' Same phonetic in 搏 bó (struggle), 薄 báo/bó (thin), 缚 fù (bind).

Stroke Order

博 bó