播 (bō): (bound form) to sow (seeds), to spread (ideas, rumors etc), to broadcast (radio signals etc)
播 (bō) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to sow (seeds).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (structural) and 番 (structural). It ranks #1267 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 播 to sow seeds 番 by hand 扌; 番 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- (bound form) to sow (seeds)
- to spread (ideas, rumors etc)
- to broadcast (radio signals etc)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo sow seeds 番 by hand 扌; 番 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰扌番 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 播 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 播
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 直播verb | zhí bō | (TV, radio) to broadcast live | 5 |
| 广播verb/noun | guǎng bō | broadcast | 4 |
| 播放verb | bō fàng | to broadcast | 4 |
| 传播verb | chuán bō | to disseminate | 5 |
| 主播verb/noun | zhǔ bō | (news) anchor | 6 |
| 播种verb | bō zhǒng | to sow seeds | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 播出verb | bō chū | to broadcast |
| 演播室noun | yǎn bō shì | broadcasting studio |
| 播报verb | bō bào | to announce |
| 散播verb | sàn bō | to spread |
| 转播verb | zhuǎn bō | relay |
| 重播verb | chóng bō | to replay |
| 播音员noun | bō yīn yuán | announcer |
| 播音verb | bō yīn | to transmit |
| 开播verb | kāi bō | (agriculture) to begin sowing |
| 联播noun | lián bō | to broadcast over a network |
| 点播verb | diǎn bō | webcast |
| 广播网 | guǎng bō wǎng | network |
| 播映verb | bō yìng | to broadcast a film |
| 播送verb | bō sòng | to broadcast |
| 演播verb | yǎn bō | broadcast performance |
播 appears in 84 compound words: 21 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 31 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 播 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 播.
Example Sentences
这条新闻正在全国各大电视台同步播出。
Zhè tiáo xīnwén zhèngzài quánguó gè dà diànshìtái tóngbù bōchū.
This news is being broadcast simultaneously on major TV stations across the country.
主播说国防丨将朴素的情感,化为坚实的行动
zhǔ bō shuō guó fáng 丨 jiāng pǔ sù de qíng gǎn , huà wéi jiān shí de háng dòng
The anchor said that national defense丨 will turn simple emotions into solid actions
盛世美颜主播王偊菁 新春穿红吱吱旗袍迎开工
shèng shì měi yán zhǔ bō wáng 偊 菁 xīn chūn chuān hóng 吱 吱 qí páo yíng kāi gōng
Shengshi beauty anchor Wang Yijing wore a red squeaky cheongsam to welcome the start of work in the New Year
【直播】HHS开改善医疗服务多方支付方协调会议
zhí bō H H S kāi gǎi shàn yī liáo fú wù duō fāng zhī fù fāng xié diào huì yì
HHS held a multi-payer coordination meeting to improve medical services
B站总台春晚直播弹幕数达1.33亿,发送数量排名前..
zhàn zǒng tái chūn wǎn zhí bō dàn mù shǔ dá . yì , fā sòng shǔ liáng pái míng qián . .
B station total station Spring Festival Gala live pop-ups reached 133 million, sending the number of top...
2026年世界知识产权报告:创新传播速度达历史新高
nián shì jiè zhī shí chǎn quán bào gào chuàng xīn chuán bō sù dù dá lì shǐ xīn gāo
World Intellectual Property Report 2026: Diffusion of innovations reaches record pace
该事件播下了战争的种子。
Gāi shìjiàn bō xià le zhànzhēng de zhǒngzi.
The incident sowed the seeds of the war.
春天播种秋天收获。
Chūntiān bōzhǒng qiūtiān shōuhuò.
Spring sows, autumn reaps.
播种风, 就收获暴风。
Bōzhǒng fēng, jiù shōuhuò bàofēng.
Who seeds wind, shall harvest storm.
收音机广播充斥着有关最近爆炸的新闻。
Shōuyīnjī guǎngbō chōngchì zhe yǒuguān zuì jìn bàozhà de xīnwén.
News of the recent blast is all over the radio.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 播 (bō)?
Is 播 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 播 with real-time feedback
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