炳 (bǐng): bright; brilliant; luminous

Meanings

1 bright; brilliant; luminous

Characters

炳

bǐng

bright; brilliant

Examples

HSK 7-9

他的功绩彪炳千秋。

Tā de gōngjì biāobǐng qiānqiū.

His achievements are brilliant and will shine through the ages.

HSK 7-9

这个字常用作人名，取光明之意。

Zhège zì cháng yòng zuò rénmíng, qǔ guāngmíng zhī yì.

This name appears often in old texts; many people are named with the bright character.

Tips

usage

炳 means shining and brilliant. It is most alive in 彪炳 (illustrious, as in 彪炳史册, recorded gloriously in history) and is a popular given-name character.

Components

radical

火 huǒ

fire

The fire radical on the left. Brightness here is the glow of a flame, so the fire radical gives 炳 its core meaning of luminous and shining.

phonetic

丙 bǐng

third (in a sequence); fire

Pure sound: standalone 丙 is bǐng and 炳 keeps it exactly. As the third Heavenly Stem 丙 is associated with fire, a neat reinforcement, but it serves chiefly as the reading.