大白
Chinese
big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor |
white; empty; blank white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| simp. and trad. (大白) |
大 | 白 | |
| anagram | 白大 | ||
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: dàbái
- Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄅㄞˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: dàbái
- Wade–Giles: ta4-pai2
- Yale: dà-bái
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahbair
- Palladius: дабай (dabaj)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tä⁵¹ paɪ̯³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: daai6 baak6
- Yale: daaih baahk
- Cantonese Pinyin: daai6 baak9
- Guangdong Romanization: dai6 bag6
- Sinological IPA (key): /taːi̯²² paːk̚²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Noun
大白
- (Classical) purest whiteness
- 故建言有之：明道若昧，進道若退，夷道若纇；上德若谷，大白若辱，廣德若不足；建德若偷，質直若渝，大方無隅 […] 。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
- From: Tao Te Ching, 4th century BCE
- Gù jiànyán yǒu zhī: míng dào ruò mèi, jìn dào ruò tuì, yí dào ruò lèi; shàngdé ruò gǔ, dàbái ruò rǔ, guǎngdé ruò bùzú; jiàndé ruò tōu, zhìzhí ruò yú, dàfāng wú yú […] . [Pinyin]
- That is why the ancients said:
The bright Tao seems dark;
The advancing Tao seems to be retreating;
The even Tao seems rough;
The great virtue resembles the valley;
The pure whiteness seems black;
The infinite virtue seems lacking;
The virile virtue seems idle;
The pure simplicity seems turbid.
The great square has no corners...
故建言有之：明道若昧，进道若退，夷道若颣；上德若谷，大白若辱，广德若不足；建德若偷，质直若渝，大方无隅 […] 。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
- (dated) large wine cup
- 目盡青天懷今古，肯兒曹恩怨相爾汝？舉大白，聽《金縷》。 [Ci, trad.]
- From: 1142, 張元幹 (Zhāng Yuángàn),《賀新郎·送胡邦衡待制赴新州》, translated by Xu Yuanchong
- Mù jìn qīngtiān huái jīngǔ, kěn ércáo ēnyuàn xiāng ěrrǔ? Jǔ dàbái, tīng “Jīnlǚ”. [Pinyin]
- I gaze on the blue sky, thinking of the hard times gone by. / Can we have but personal love or hate as beardless young men often state? / Hold up a cup of wine / And hear this song of mine!
目尽青天怀今古，肯儿曹恩怨相尔汝？举大白，听《金缕》。 [Ci, simp.]- 見余，大喜，曰：「湖中焉得更有此人！」拉余同飲，余強飲三大白而別。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: circa 1657~1664, Zhang Dai, Dream Memories of Tao'an: Viewing the Snow In the Pavilion Amidst the West Lake
- Jiàn yú, dàxǐ, yuē: “Hú zhōng yān dé gèng yǒu cǐ rén!” Lā yú tóng yǐn, yú qiǎng yǐn sān dàbái ér bié. [Pinyin]
- “Oh, we thought we'd have the lake all to ourselves at this hour!” they exclaimed, amazed to see me, and invited me over to join them. I forced myself to have three cupfuls before bidding farewell.
见余，大喜，曰：「湖中焉得更有此人！」拉余同饮，余强饮三大白而别。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
- (dialectal) chalk; whiting
- (chiefly Mainland China, neologism) dabai [2020–] (medic, police officer or community worker in a biosafety suit)
Descendants
- English: dabai
Verb
大白
- to be completely revealed; to be brought to light