bèi

quilt, cover

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
衤 meaning component

  Meaning component

  

clothes

is a component form of .

皮 sound component

  Sound component

  

skin

Evolution

被 Bronze script Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Bronze script

Late Warring States (~250 BC)
被 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
被 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
被 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

bèi

passive indicator 'by'; bedding; quilt; by; (indicates passive-voice clauses); (literary) to cover; to meet with; (coll.) (since c. 2009) used before a verb that does not accurately represent what actually happened, to describe with black humor how sb or sth was dealt with by the authorities (as in 被自殺|被自杀[bèi​zì​shā])

Most common words with 被
Freq.
Word
Meaning

by

被告

defendant

被捕

to be arrested

被迫

to be compelled

被动

passive