敝 (bì): my (humble/polite)

Meanings

1 my (humble/polite)
2 worn out
3 shabby
4 defeated

Characters

敝

bì

worn out; shabby; my (humble prefix)

Examples

敝公司专注于软件开发。

Bì gōngsī zhuānzhù yú ruǎnjiàn kāifā.

Our humble company focuses on software development.

欢迎光临敝店。

Huānyíng guānglín bì diàn.

Welcome to our humble shop.

Tips

usage

敝 is a self-deprecating prefix used in formal or polite Chinese to refer to things belonging to the speaker — 敝公司 (my company), 敝校 (my school), 敝人 (I, myself). It conveys modesty in business or official contexts.

register

This is formal/written language. In conversation, people just say 我们公司, 我们学校, etc.

Components

radical

攵 pū

tap; strike (radical)

Right side 攵 — the rap radical, a hand wielding a stick. Indexing radical here. Together with 㡀 on the left, the picture is a hand beating cloth until it falls apart, the active force behind 'wearing out.' Same radical drives 故 (cause), 收 (gather), 教 (teach).

semantic

㡀 bì

worn cloth; tattered

Left seven strokes form 㡀 — a piece of cloth (巾 with hanging dots) being torn. This carries the core meaning of 敝: worn out, shabby, in tatters. Also the polite-humble 'my humble (家)' usage descends from this — calling one's own things 'tattered' as a self-deprecation.