皮 (pí): skin; leather

Meanings

1 skin; leather
2 peel; rind; surface
3 naughty; mischievous (colloquial)

Characters

皮

pí

skin; leather; naughty

A pictograph of a hand stripping skin from an animal. Also means 'naughty' colloquially.

Examples

他的皮肤很白。

Tā de pífū hěn bái.

His skin is very fair.

这个苹果的皮可以吃。

Zhège píngguǒ de pí kěyǐ chī.

The peel of this apple is edible.

这个孩子太皮了！

Zhège háizi tài pí le!

This kid is so naughty!

Tips

usage

皮 as 'naughty' is very colloquial and often used affectionately for mischievous children or playful people online.

grammar

皮 appears in many compound words: 皮肤 (skin), 皮鞋 (leather shoes), 皮包 (handbag), 橡皮 (eraser).

Components

pictograph

皮 pí

skin; hide; leather

Pictograph of a hand stripping hide from an animal carcass — the upper curl is the pelt being peeled back, the lower curve is the hand (又) doing the work. Kangxi radical #107, indexing skin/leather characters: 皱 (wrinkle), 皴 (chapped), 皲 (cracked skin), 颇 (rather/slanted-skin). Self-radical; the structure is etymologically unitary and shouldn't be sub-decomposed.

Radical

Skin Kangxi #107

A small radical group covering hides, surfaces, and skin-like coverings. The character itself does most of the lifting; under it dictionaries file mainly 皱 (wrinkle) and 皴 (chapped skin / a brushwork technique in painting). Often appears as a phonetic in unrelated compounds (波, 破, 被, 披).