背

背 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 中心月 (LPB), four-corner 1122₇, composition ⿱北月(GJK) or ⿱北⺼(HT))

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 977, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29363
• Dae Jaweon: page 1429, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2058, character 4
• Unihan data for U+80CC

Historical forms of the character 背
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pɯːɡs, *bɯːɡs) : phonetic 北 (OC *pɯːɡ) + semantic 月 (“meat”). Originally written as 北, semantic 肉 was added to be distinguished from the derived meaning of 北 (“north”).

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ba (“to carry (on back), shoulder”).

Two pronunciations were distinguished in Middle Chinese: puʌi^H (“back”), buʌi^H (“to turn one's back to; to betray”).

背

1. (anatomy) back

   捶背  ―  chuíbèi  ―  to give a back massage

   馬背／马背  ―  mǎbèi  ―  horseback

   • 一個孩子突然跑過來，幾乎碰著他背上的劍尖，使他嚇出了一身汗。 [MSC, trad.]
     一个孩子突然跑过来，几乎碰着他背上的剑尖，使他吓出了一身汗。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1927, Lu Xun, 鑄劍

     Yī ge háizi tūrán pǎo guòlái, jīhū pèng zhe tā bèi shàng de jiàn jiān, shǐ tā xià chū le yī shēn hàn. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. back; backside; reverse side

   手背  ―  shǒubèi  ―  back of the hand

   紙背／纸背  ―  zhǐbèi  ―  back of a piece of paper

3. to leave; to abandon

   背井離鄉／背井离乡  ―  bèijǐnglíxiāng  ―  to leave one's native place and move elsewhere

4. to back onto

   背著太陽坐／背着太阳坐  ―  bèi zhe tàiyáng zuò  ―  to sit with one's back to the sun

   背山面海  ―  bèi shān miàn hǎi  ―  backing on to a mountain and facing the sea

5. to betray

   • 隨何往說九江王布，布果背楚。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     随何往说九江王布，布果背楚。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Suí Hé wǎng shuì Jiǔjiāng wáng Bù, Bù guǒ bèi Chǔ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. to do something behind one's back; to hide something from someone

   男朋友背著我和其他女生聊天。 [MSC, trad.]
   男朋友背着我和其他女生聊天。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nánpéngyǒu bèi zhe wǒ hé qítā nǚshēng liáotiān. [Pinyin]

   My boyfriend chats with other girls behind my back.

7. to deviate; to go contrary to; to violate

   背約／背约  ―  bèiyuē  ―  to break one’s promise

   背著良心說話／背着良心说话  ―  bèi zhe liángxīn shuōhuà  ―  to speak against one's conscience

8. to memorize; to recite

   這篇文章寫得多棒啊，背下來。 [MSC, trad.]
   这篇文章写得多棒啊，背下来。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè piān wénzhāng xiěde duō bàng a, bèi xiàlái. [Pinyin]

   How excellently written is this article! Memorize it.

   你背唐詩背了多少首？ [MSC, trad.]
   你背唐诗背了多少首？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ bèi Tángshī bèi le duōshǎo shǒu? [Pinyin]

   How many Tang poems have you memorized?

9. unlucky; out of luck
10. hard of hearing

    耳朵有點兒背／耳朵有点儿背  ―  ěrduo yǒudiǎnr bèi  ―  to be a bit hard of hearing

11. remote; out-of-the-way
12. (Cantonese) isolated; out of touch; out of the loop; ignorant of what is happening; uninformed of the latest news; not up to speed
    • 2003 February 17, 杜依翹, “D場天后張茵再戰歌壇”, in 《東方日報》 [Oriental Daily News]‎:

      諗極都諗唔通，於是走去問個喺D場做DJ嘅老友，佢竟然話：「乜你咁背㗎！嗰首咪係而家唱到行晒，由DJ Lorry同張茵合唱嘅《上一個不愛回家的人．下一個》囉！」 [Cantonese, trad.]
      谂极都谂唔通，于是走去问个喺D场做DJ嘅老友，佢竟然话：「乜你咁背㗎！嗰首咪系而家唱到行晒，由DJ Lorry同张茵合唱嘅《上一个不爱回家的人．下一个》啰！」 [Cantonese, simp.]

      nam² gik⁶ dou¹ nam² m⁴ tung¹, jyu¹ si⁶ zau² heoi³ man⁶ go³ hai² di¹ coeng⁴ zou⁶ di¹ zhei¹ ge³ lou⁵ jau⁵, keoi⁵ ging² jin⁴ waa⁶: “mat¹ nei⁵ gam³ bui⁶ gaa³! go² sau² mai⁶ hai⁶ ji⁴ gaa¹ coeng³ dou³ hang⁴ saai³, jau⁴ DJ Lorry tung⁴ zoeng¹ jan¹ hap⁶ coeng³ ge³ “soeng⁶ jat¹ go³ bat¹ oi³ wui⁴ gaa¹ dik¹ jan⁴. haa⁶ jat¹ go³” lo¹!” [Jyutping]

      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

13. (swimming) Short for 背泳 (bèiyǒng, “backstroke”).

背

1. to carry on the back
2. (figurative) to carry; to bear (blame); to shoulder (responsibility)

• (to carry on the back): 馱／驮 (tuó)

• “背”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. back, stature

• Go-on: へ (he); べ (be); はい (hai, Jōyō); ばい (bai)
• Kan-on: はい (hai, Jōyō)
• Kun: せ (se, 背, Jōyō); せい (sei, 背, Jōyō); そむく (somuku, 背く, Jōyō); そむける (somukeru, 背ける, Jōyō)

背(せい) • (sei) 

1. height

From Middle Chinese 背 (MC bwojH|pwojH). Recorded as Middle Korean ᄇᆡ〯 (pǒy) (Yale: pǒy) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pɛ(ː)] ~ [pe̞(ː)]
• Phonetic hangul: [배(ː)/베(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource 背 (eumhun 등 배 (deung bae))

1. Hanja form^? of 배 (“back”).
2. Hanja form^? of 배 (“betrayal”).

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

背: Hán Nôm readings: bối, bội, bổi, bồi

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.