Definitions
Etymology
Pictograph of two people standing back-to-back. Based on the original meaning "back", now written as 背. The current meaning "north" is a phonetic loan.
About
The character 北 is an ideogram depicting two figures back-to-back, a structure still visible in its modern form. Its original meaning was "the back of the human body", later represented by the derivative character 背, which adds the flesh radical. 北 was then borrowed to denote the cardinal direction north, likely because traditional architecture and seats of authority faced south, leaving the north at one's back. The image of two people turning away also gave it a secondary historical sense of military defeat or retreat.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
北京是中国的首都。
北方冬天很冷。
我家住在北边。
他去北京旅行了。
北方的气候比较干燥。
从北京到上海有多远？
在北方，人们喜欢吃面食。
由于北方寒流南下，气温下降了很多。