宾

賓
bīn
noun #5,028

Meanings

  1. 1 guest; visitor

Examples

HSK 1
Jīntiān lái le hěnduō guìbīn.
Many honored guests came today.
HSK 3
Bīnguǎn de fúwù hěn hǎo.
The hotel's service is very good.

Tips

usage
宾 appears in 宾馆 (hotel), 贵宾 (VIP), 宾客 (guests). In grammar, 宾语 means 'object' of a sentence.

Components

radical
宀 mián
roof
Top indexing radical 宀 (roof) - guests are received under the host's roof. The roof radical anchors 宾 in the family of dwelling-related words: 客 (guest, also under 宀), 家 (home), 室 (room), 安 (peace). The roof signals 'in someone's house.'
phonetic
兵 bīng
soldier (here phonetic)
Bottom component supplies the sound: bīng → bīn (just nasal-final shift). The simplified shape resembles 兵 but the etymological meaning came from traditional 賓, where the bottom was 貝 (cowrie/gift) - a visitor bearing tribute. The simplification kept the silhouette, lost the gift imagery.

Stroke Order

宾 bīn