壁

bì

wall

rampart

sovereign sound (辟) + earth (土) = wall built from the ground up

土 grounds the meaning: a wall is ultimately packed earth or masonry rising from the ground. 辟 mainly provides the sound bì and does not add semantic weight here.

辟+土→壁
土EarthSemantic
辟Originally depicted a lordPhonetic

城壁高大,敌人很难攻进来。

chéng bì gāo dà, dírén hěn nán gōng jìn lái。

The city rampart is tall and large, making it very hard for enemies to break in.

古代的壁垒建得非常坚固,能保护城里的百姓。

gǔdài de bìlěi jiàn de fēicháng jiāngù, néng bǎohù chéng lǐ de bǎixìng。

The ancient ramparts were built very solidly, able to protect the people inside the city.

Words with 壁

照壁

zhào bì

a screen wall across the gate of a house (for privacy)

崖壁

yá bì

escarpment

赤壁市

chì bì shì

Chibi, a county-level city in Xianning City 咸寧市|咸宁市[Xian2 ning2 Shi4], Hubei

铜墙铁壁

tóng qiáng tiě bì

copper wall, iron bastion (idiom); impenetrable defense

凿壁偷光

záo bì tōu guāng

lit. to pierce the wall to steal a light (idiom)

间壁

jiàn bì

next door

关税壁垒

guān shuì bì lěi

tariff wall

陡壁

dǒu bì

steep cliff

隔壁

gé bì

next door

隔壁有耳

gé bì yǒu ěr

walls have ears

隔壁老王

gé bì lǎo wáng

Mr Wang from next door (term used jocularly to refer to a neighbor who is supposedly sleeping with one's wife)

隔壁邻居

gé bì lín jū

next-door neighbor

More characters with 辟

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