宝 (bǎo): jewel, gem, treasure
宝 (bǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “jewel.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural) and 玉 (structural). It ranks #811 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 宝 jade 玉 kept in one's house 宀. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 家 (jiā, home, family), 它 (tā, it).
Definitions
- jewel
- gem
- treasure
Etymology & Origin
ideographicJade 玉 kept in one's house 宀
Decomposition: ⿱宀玉 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 宝 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 宝
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 宝宝 | bǎo bao | darling |
| 宝藏 | bǎo zàng | precious mineral deposits |
| 财宝 | cái bǎo | money and valuables |
| 宝石 | bǎo shí | precious stone |
| 宝马 | bǎo mǎ | precious horse |
| 珍宝 | zhēn bǎo | a treasure |
| 宝剑 | bǎo jiàn | (double-edged) sword (esp. a valuable or famous one) |
| 宝物 | bǎo wù | treasure |
| 宝座 | bǎo zuò | throne |
| 宝典 | bǎo diǎn | canonical text |
| 宝库 | bǎo kù | treasure-house |
| 活宝 | huó bǎo | buffoon |
| 法宝 | fǎ bǎo | Buddha's teaching |
| 国宝 | guó bǎo | national treasure |
| 宝玉 | bǎo yù | precious jade |
宝 appears in 100 compound words: 59 as the first character, 31 as the last, and 10 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 宝 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
old but still got it; as vigorous and active as before; just as skilled as when one was young
Showing 9 of 10 idioms containing 宝.
Example Sentences
宝字在日常生活中使用频率中等。
bǎo zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ zhōng děng .
The character "宝" is used moderately frequently in daily life.
震撼!挖3563克拉紫星彩宝 飙126亿台币
zhèn hàn ! wā 3 5 6 3 kè lā zǐ xīng cǎi bǎo biāo 1 2 6 yì tái bì
Shocking! Digging 3,563 carats of purple star colored treasures soared to NT$12.6 billion
以为黄金!贼闯宅偷宝盒 他:是我肾结石
yǐ wéi huáng jīn ! zéi chuǎng zhái tōu bǎo hé tā : shì wǒ shèn jié shí
Think it's gold! Thieves break into the house and steal treasure boxes He: It's my kidney stones
4宝爸出轨小三24次!性爱行事历曝光 人妻试...
4 bǎo bà chū guǐ xiǎo sān 2 4 cì ! xìng ài háng shì lì pù guāng rén qī shì . . .
4 Bao Dad cheated on the mistress 24 times! Sex calendar exposed Married woman test...
新春走基层|喜迎10名小马宝宝,一天8台手术——他..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng xǐ yíng 1 0 míng xiǎo mǎ bǎo bǎo , yī tiān 8 tái shǒu shù — — tā . .
Welcome 10 pony babies, 8 surgeries a day - he:
致敬坚守者:宝山这些身影温暖了我们的团圆年|在宝山..
zhì jìng jiān shǒu zhě : bǎo shān zhè xiē shēn yǐng wēn nuǎn le wǒ men de tuán yuán nián zài bǎo shān . .
Salute to the perseverance: These figures of Baoshan warmed our reunion year|In Baoshan:
海盗把财宝藏进了地底。
Hǎidào bǎ cáibǎo cáng jìn le dìdǐ.
The pirates buried their treasure in the ground.
萨米是海绵宝宝粉丝。
Sà mǐ shì Hǎimián Bǎobǎo fěnsī.
Sami is a SpongeBob fan.
这只企鹅宝宝太可爱了！
Zhè zhǐ qǐ'é bǎobǎo tài kě'ài le!
This baby penguin is too cute!
您毁掉了我的宝马！
Nín huǐdiào le wǒ de bǎomǎ!
You ruined my BMW!
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 宝 (bǎo) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 宝 (bǎo)?
Is 宝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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