伯 (bó): father's elder brother, senior, paternal elder uncle
伯 (bó) is a Chinese character meaning “father's elder brother.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 白 (phonetic). It ranks #821 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 伯 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- father's elder brother
- senior
- paternal elder uncle
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 伯 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 伯爵 | bó jué | earl |
| 罗伯特 | luó bó tè | Robert (name) |
| 阿拉伯 | ā lā bó | Arabian |
| 韦伯 | wéi bó | weber (unit of magnetic flux, Wb) |
| 伯恩 | bó ēn | Bern or Berne, capital of Switzerland (Tw) |
| 希伯来 | xī bó lái | Hebrew |
| 伯克利 | bó kè lì | Berkeley |
| 阿拉伯语 | ā lā bó yǔ | Arabic (language) |
| 亚伯 | yà bó | Abe (short form for Abraham) |
| 伯母 | bó mǔ | wife of father's elder brother |
| 伯父 | bó fù | father's elder brother |
| 伯利恒 | bó lì héng | Bethlehem (in the biblical nativity story) |
| 阿尔伯特 | ā ěr bó tè | Albert (name) |
| 伯明翰 | bó míng hàn | Birmingham |
| 伯伯 | bó bo | father's elder brother |
伯 appears in 100 compound words: 29 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 46 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 伯 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (19)
eldest, second, third and youngest of brothers; order of seniority among brothers
(~氏) An ancient Mongolian clan; (~部) Dörbet (Mongolian tribe of Borjigit-clan origin)
eldest, second, third and youngest of brothers; order of seniority among brothers
(~氏) An ancient Mongolian clan; (~部) Dörbet (Mongolian tribe of Borjigit-clan origin)
Showing 12 of 19 idioms containing 伯.
Example Sentences
他伯品很好,在村里很受尊敬。
tā bà pǐn hěn hǎo , zài cūn lǐ hěn shòu zūn jìng .
He is of excellent character and is highly respected in the village.
哈伯望远镜进入死亡螺旋?专家指高度下降变快 ...
hā bó wàng yuǎn jìng jìn rù sǐ wáng luó xuán ? zhuān jiā zhǐ gāo dù xià jiàng biàn kuài . . .
Hubble telescope enters death spiral? Experts say that the altitude drops faster ...
过年练唱“分手快乐”告别川伯? 蒋万安:拭目以待
guò nián liàn chàng fēn shǒu kuài lè gào bié chuān bó ? 蒋 wàn ān : 拭 mù yǐ dài
New Year's practice singing "Happy Breakup" to say goodbye to Uncle Chuan? Jiang Wan'an: We'll see
88%的阿拉伯民众反对承认以色列政权
8 8 de ā lā bó mín zhòng fǎn duì chéng rèn yǐ sè liè zhèng quán
88% of the Arab population opposes the recognition of the Israeli regime
沙特阿拉伯前官员:任何对伊朗的军事打击都将是一场代...
shā tè ā lā bó qián guān yuán : rèn hé duì yī lǎng de jūn shì dǎ jī dōu jiāng shì yī chǎng dài . . .
Former Saudi Arabian official: Any military strike on Iran will be a generation...
川伯赠“铁锤”盼建设台中! 江启臣:北中联手
chuān bó zèng tiě chuí pàn jiàn shè tái zhōng ! jiāng qǐ chén : běi zhōng lián shǒu
Chuan Bo gave a "hammer" to build Taichung! Jiang Qichen: Beijing and China join forces
鲍伯和玛丽演奏直笛。
Bàobó hé Mǎlì yǎnzòu zhídí .
Bob and Mary play the recorder.
亚伯拉罕·林肯是名人。
Yàbólāhǎn · Línkěn shì míngrén.
Abraham Lincoln is a famous person.
我的伯叔住在纽约。
Wǒ de bóshū zhù zài Niǔyuē.
My uncle lives in New York.
他在用伯伯尔语阅读圣经。
Tā zài yòng bóbo ěr yǔ yuèdú Shèngjīng.
He's reading the Bible in Berber.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 伯 (bó) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 伯 (bó)?
Is 伯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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