卜 (bǔ): (bound form) to divine, used in 蘿蔔|萝卜
卜 (bǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to divine.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丨 (structural) and 丶 (structural). It ranks #1952 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 卜 a crack on an oracle bone. Its radical form 卜 (divination) appears in many related characters such as 占 (zhàn, to observe), 卡 (kǎ, to stop), 卧 (wò, to lie).
Definitions
- (bound form) to divine
- used in 蘿蔔|萝卜
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA crack on an oracle bone
Decomposition: ⿻丨丶 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 卜 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 胡萝卜 | hú luó bo | carrot |
| 萝卜 | luó bo | radish (Raphanus sativus), esp. daikon |
| 占卜 | zhān bǔ | to divine |
| 吉卜赛人 | jí bǔ sài rén | Gypsy |
| 红萝卜 | hóng luó bo | carrot |
| 易卜生 | yì bǔ shēng | Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian dramatist, author of Doll's House 玩偶之家 |
| 胡萝卜素 | hú luó bo sù | carotene |
| 易卜拉欣 | yì bǔ lā xīn | (name) Ibrahim or Ebrahim |
| 阿卜杜拉 | ā bǔ dù lā | Abdullah (name) |
| 白萝卜 | bái luó bo | daikon |
| 吉卜力工作室 | jí bǔ lì gōng zuò shì | Studio Ghibli, Japanese film studio |
| 未卜先知 | wèi bǔ xiān zhī | (idiom) to foresee the future (without divination) |
| 李卜克内西 | lǐ bo kè nèi xī | Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826-1900), political activist and founding member of the German Socialist Party SPD |
| 前途未卜 | qián tú wèi bǔ | hanging in the balance |
| 萝卜白菜，各有所爱 | luó bo bái cài , gè yǒu suǒ ài | (saying) one man's meat is another man's poison |
卜 appears in 51 compound words: 25 as the first character, 39 as the last, and 35 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 卜 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
a transliteration of the Arabic male given name عَبْد اللّٰه (ʕabd allāh), Abd Allah
a transliteration of the Arabic male given name عَبْد اللّٰه (ʕabd allāh), Abd Allah
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 卜.
Example Sentences
学习卜字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。
xué xí bǔ zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .
Mastering the character "卜" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.
麦文坚周三告别战 暂卜定四驹
mài wén jiān zhōu sān gào bié zhàn zàn bǔ dìng sì 驹
Ma Wenchuan's Farewell Race on Wednesday: Four Horses Tentatively Selected
再审诉求升级!300亿“萝卜章”诈骗案再起波澜,湘财证券涉3.43亿...
zài shěn sù qiú shēng jí ! 3 0 0 yì luó bǔ zhāng zhà piàn àn zài qǐ bō lán , 湘 cái zhèng quàn shè 3 . 4 3 yì . . .
The retrial appeal escalated! The 30 billion "radish chapter" fraud case has made waves again, and Xiangcai Securities has involved 343 million...
...节 同容祖儿闯罗浮宫爆瘀事..有人听错萝卜糕
. . . jié tóng róng zǔ ér chuǎng luó fú gōng bào 瘀 shì . . yǒu rén tīng cuò luó bǔ gāo
... Section Same Rong Zuer broke into the Louvre and exploded: Someone misheard radish cake
卜蜂2025年每股纯益达10.39元 拟每...
bǔ fēng 2 0 2 5 nián měi gǔ chún yì dá 1 0 . 3 9 yuán nǐ měi . . .
Bu Bee's net profit per share in 2025 will reach 10.39 yuan per share...
白萝卜可能比红萝卜贵。
Báiluóbo kěnéng bǐ hóngluóbo guì.
Daikon might be more expensive than the carrots.
把胡萝卜放在锅里。
Bǎ húluóbo fàng zài guō lǐ.
Put the carrots in the pot.
白兔喜欢吃胡萝卜。
Bái tù xǐhuan chī húluóbo.
Rabbits like to eat carrots.
这个汤里有胡萝卜、洋葱、欧芹、芹菜和土豆。
Zhège tāng lǐ yǒu húluóbo, yángcōng, ōuqín, qíncài hé tǔdòu.
In this soup there are carrots, onions, parsley, celery and potatoes.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 卜 (bǔ) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 卜 have?
What is the radical of 卜?
What are the components of 卜?
What are common words containing 卜?
What characters sound the same as 卜 (bǔ)?
Is 卜 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 卜 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.