Kilo Lingo

(bǎo) - to protect, to keep, to preserve in Mandarin

bǎo

Traditional: 保

Line drawing of 保
Coloured illustration of 保
#5057 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to protect, to keep, to preserve

Word origin

An ideographic character showing the person radical 亻beside 呆, a graphic of a child, depicting an adult protecting a child, hence to protect, to keep or to preserve.

Origin
ideographic
Root
亻(person radical) + 呆 (a child being carried)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 保

Examples

huánjìng

We need to protect the environment.

I guarantee I won't tell anyone.

Please keep quiet.

Please keep your belongings safe.

The doctor saved his life.

保 (bǎo) means to protect or to keep. It anchors 保护 (to protect), 保证 (to guarantee), and 保持 (to maintain), all of which carry a sense of holding something safe or steady.

Appears in 5 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 保.

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This word is part of lesson 102.