p8nda
p8nda BETA
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坌

bèn
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) dust; fine earth
  2. 2 (classical) (of dust) to scatter and settle; old variant of 笨

Examples

这孩子有点笨，可是很用功。
Zhè háizi yǒudiǎn bèn, kěshì hěn yònggōng.
This child is a bit slow, but very diligent.

Tips

history
No standalone use in modern Chinese; a literary word for dust, also an old variant of 笨 (clumsy), and used in some place names. It stacks 分 (to scatter) over 土 (earth) — scattering soil.
register
Classical and literary only; met in old texts and place names, not in everyday speech.

Components

radical
土 tǔ
earth; soil
The earth radical at the base. It supplies the meaning, fixing the word as fine soil or dust, the same family as 尘 and 地.
phonetic
分 fēn
to divide; to scatter; phonetic
Sits on top and carries the sound, drifted to bèn. Its "scatter apart" sense also fits dust dispersing; the same phonetic appears in 盆 and 贫.

Stroke Order

坌 bèn