饱 (bǎo): full (from eating)

Meanings

1 full (from eating)
2 satisfied

Characters

饱

bǎo

full (from eating); satisfied

Food radical 饣 + 包 (wrap/bag) — stomach wrapped full of food.

Examples

我吃饱了。

Wǒ chī bǎo le.

I'm full.

你吃饱了吗？

Nǐ chī bǎo le ma?

Have you eaten enough?

别吃太饱。

Bié chī tài bǎo.

Don't eat too much.

Tips

grammar

饱 is a result complement: 吃饱 (eat until full). Pattern: verb + 饱 = do until full/satisfied.

culture

In Chinese culture, the host will keep asking 吃饱了吗 to make sure guests have eaten enough. It's polite to say you're full.

Components

radical

饣 shí

food radical

Left radical 饣 is the simplified side-form of 食 (food/eat). It marks 饱 as a food-state: full from eating, sated. The food radical groups 饱 with the eating family — 饭 (cooked rice), 饿 (hungry), 馋 (greedy), 餐 (meal) — and 饱/饿 form the natural pair of 'full vs hungry'.

phonetic

包 bāo

to wrap; bundle

Right phonetic 包 supplies the sound — bāo shifted to bǎo by tone change only. 包 itself depicts a fetus wrapped in the womb (the 巳 inside) — by extension 'to wrap, contain'. Faint semantic flavour: a 饱 belly is a wrapped/full container of food. Same phonetic in 抱 (hug), 跑 (run), 炮 (cannon), 泡 (bubble).