柏 meaning and stroke order
Cypress, cedar
How to write 柏, stroke by stroke
9 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 柏
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cedar
- cypress
- Taiwan pr. [bo2]
- variant of 柏[bai3]
- (used for transcribing names)
- used in 黃柏|黄柏[huang2 bo4]
- Taiwan pr. [bo2]
How 柏 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Tree.
木 gives the meaning and 白 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 柏
柏 is a tree 木 (mù) on the left with 白 (bái) on the right giving the sound. Picture an evergreen tree whose name sounds like 白, so 柏 (bǎi) is the cypress.
In everyday Mandarin, 柏 (bǎi) mostly appears in tree and wood words like 柏树 (bǎishù), and it is often planted in parks and cemeteries as a symbol of long life. Example: 公园里有很多柏树。 (Gōngyuán lǐ yǒu hěn duō bǎishù.) There are many cypress trees in the park.
Common mistake: Learners often read 柏 as bái because of the phonetic 白, but the tree word is third tone, bǎi. Also, do not confuse it with 伯 (bó, uncle), which shares 白 but has the person radical 亻 instead of 木.
Common words with 柏
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 柏树 | bǎishù | cypress tree; Taiwan pr. [bo2 shu4] | HSK 7-9 |
柏 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 柏
How many strokes are in 柏?
柏 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 柏 mean?
柏 (bǎi) means cypress, cedar. A common word with it is 柏树 (bǎishù), meaning "cypress tree; Taiwan pr. [bo2 shu4]".
How do you pronounce 柏?
柏 is pronounced bǎi, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 柏?
The radical of 柏 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 柏 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 柏?
The traditional form of 柏 is 栢. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 柏 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 柏 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 柏 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 柏 pronounced in 柏林 (Berlin)?
In names transcribed from foreign languages, 柏 is read bó, so Berlin is 柏林 (Bólín). The same reading appears in 柏拉图 (Bólātú), Plato.
Why do some people say bó for the cypress tree?
In Taiwan the standard reading for the tree is bó, so 柏树 is said bóshù there. In mainland China it is bǎi, as in bǎishù.