Origin

This character combines two components to represent the idea of "all." The top part, 比, originally depicted people standing side by side, suggesting comparison or gathering together. The bottom part, 白, means white or bright and was used to represent clarity or openness. Together, these parts create the sense of everyone or everything coming together clearly—when all people gather as one group, nothing is hidden or left out. Over time, the character came to mean "all" or "everything" as a whole.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).