备

備
bèi
verb HSK 7-9 #4,934

Meanings

  1. 1 to prepare; to equip
  2. 2 equipment; provision

Examples

HSK 2
Nǐ zhǔnbèi hǎo le ma?
Are you ready?
HSK 4
Qǐng zuò hǎo bèifèn.
Please make a backup.

Tips

usage
备 is mainly used in compounds: 准备 (to prepare), 设备 (equipment), 备份 (backup), 备注 (remark/note).

Components

radical
夂 zhǐ
go-slowly; foot from above
Top indexing radical 夂 (Kangxi #34) - a downward-pointing foot, depicting someone arriving or stepping in. In 备 it suggests a person coming on the scene to set things up. Same radical appears in 处 (place), 复 (return), 夏 (summer), 各 (each) - all carrying motion-arrival senses.
semantic
田 tián
field (here a quiver of arrows)
Bottom five strokes - graphically 田 (field), but historically a stylised drawing of a quiver holding arrows. The original 備 showed a person beside a packed quiver, hence 'to have ready, to equip.' Modern 备 keeps the quiver-square below the foot-symbol above; do not read this 田 as 'field.'

Stroke Order

备 bèi