贝

bèi

cowrie

surname Bei; shellfish; currency (archaic)

a picture of 贝 → a cowrie shell, ancient currency

Early Chinese communities used cowrie shells as coins, so the shell image became the root for wealth, trade, and value. This is why 贝 appears in characters for money, buying, selling, and treasure.

冂+人→贝

海边有很多贝壳,孩子们都很喜欢。

hǎi biān yǒu hěn duō bèi ké , hái zi men dōu hěn xǐ huān 。

There are many shells by the sea, and the children all like them very much.

古代用贝币来交换东西,而不是用纸币。

gǔ dài yòng bèi bì lái jiāo huàn dōng xi , ér bú shì yòng zhǐ bì 。

In ancient times, cowrie currency was used to exchange things, rather than paper money.

Words with 贝

贝尔实验室

bèi ěr shí yàn shì

Bell Labs

贝宁

bèi níng

Benin

诺贝尔奖

nuò bèi ěr jiǎng

Nobel Prize

贝克

bèi kè

becquerel (unit of radioactivity, symbol Bq) (abbr. for 貝克勒爾|贝克勒尔[bei4 ke4 le4 er3])

贻贝

yí bèi

mussel

达朗贝尔

dá lǎng bèi ěr

D'Alembert (1717-1783), French mathematician

阿卡贝拉

ā kǎ bèi lā

(loanword) a cappella

阿迪斯阿贝巴

ā dí sī ā bèi bā

Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia (Tw)

阿贝尔

ā bèi ěr

(math.) abelian

陆贝

lù bèi

land snail

电贝斯

diàn bèi sī

electric bass (guitar)

马氏珍珠贝

mǎ shì zhēn zhū bèi

pearl oyster (genus Pinctada)

More characters with 冂

册冈口南冉円