佛

彿/髴

fó, fú

亻 + 弗

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

Fó (noun) Buddha; Buddhism

fú (adverb) seemingly

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 弗 represents the sound.

Semantic: 亻 Phonetic: 弗

About

佛 is a phonosemantic compound combining the human radical 亻 (indicating a person or humanoid figure) with the phonetic component 弗, which means "not" but here only supplies the sound. The character was borrowed as a phonetic loan to transcribe the Sanskrit word Buddha, so its meaning is now exclusively Buddhist, referring to the founder, the religion and philosophy, and various enlightened beings within the tradition.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

佛经是重要的佛教典籍。

Fójīng shì zhòngyào de fójiào diǎnjí.

Buddhist scriptures are important Buddhist texts.

佛像雕刻得十分庄严。

Fóxiàng diāokè dé shífēn zhuāngyán.

The Buddha statue is carved with great solemnity.

他是一位虔诚的佛教徒。

Tā shì yī wèi qiánchéng de fójiàotú.

He is a devout Buddhist.

佛法教导人们慈悲为怀。

Fófǎ jiàodǎo rénmen cíbēi wéi huái.

Buddhist teachings instruct people to be compassionate.

这座寺庙供奉着许多尊佛。

Zhè zuò sìmiào gòngfèng zhe xǔduō zūn fó.

This temple enshrines many Buddha statues.

她通过修习佛法来寻求内心的平静。

Tā tōngguò xiūxí fófǎ lái xúnqiú nèixīn de píngjìng.

She seeks inner peace through practicing Buddhist teachings.

比起佛像，我更喜欢这里的山水画。

Bǐqǐ fóxiàng, wǒ gèng xǐhuān zhèlǐ de shānshuǐhuà.

Compared to Buddha statues, I prefer the landscape paintings here.

研究佛学思想需要阅读大量的文献。

Yánjiū fóxué sīxiǎng xūyào yuèdú dàliàng de wénxiàn.

Studying Buddhist philosophy requires reading a vast amount of literature.

Related Characters

Component: 亻

Component: 弗

佛