Taxonomy of meanings for 匹:　　

Additional information about 匹

說文解字: 【匹】，四丈也。从八、匸。 〔小徐本作「從匸、八。」〕 八揲一匹。 〔小徐本「揲」作「牒」。〕 八亦聲。 【普吉切】

Criteria
• CLASSIFIERS
  

  人 is the measure word for persons.

  匹 is the measure word for horses.

  乘 is the measure word for carriages.

• FRIEND
  

  1. The most general current word for a friend is yǒu 友 (ant. dí 敵 "enemy"), and the specific nuance indicated by this word is that of a commonality of feelings and interests, although it must be noted that the etymological link of the word is with the notion of "help", and in pre-SHI times the word tended to refer to cooperating associates rather than friends.

  2. Péng 朋 typically refers to a person of similar educational background and a similar political or social agenda.

  3. Dǎng 黨 refers to group of péng 朋 pursuing a common aim, and the word is normally derogatory in meaning.

  4. Bàn 伴 and lu# 侶 refer to a companion during a specified period of time.

  5. Pǐ 匹 and chóu 儔 refer to a person of similar professional or social background who for this reason has connections with one.

  6. Jiù 舊, gù rén 故人, gù zhī 故知, and jiù gù 舊故 (all ant. shēng rén 生人 "stranger") refer to old acquaintances linked together by common experiences in the distant past.

  7. Zhī yīn 知音 refers to person who has a proper sense for the special qualities of another in such a way that he is linked to him by deep bonds of spiritual friendship.

  8. Hǎo 好 often refers to relations of friendship and good-will between states and communities, but also between individuals.

• VULGAR
  

  1. The most general current word for ordinariness or vulgarity is sú 俗 (ant. yǎ 雅 "elegant"), and the basic parameter of judging something as sú 俗 is relative status in the hierarchy.

  2. Jiàn 賤 (ant. shàn 善 "good" and also, along different lines guì 貴 "noble") refers 1. to noble status and 2. very negatively to a person or a piece of behaviour as not conforming to any demands set by nobility of purpose or status. Lòu 陋 (ant. huá 華 "elaborate and cultivated") refers to vulgarity as a negative feature of places (streets) or behaviour.

  3. Bǐ 鄙 (ant. chóng 崇 "elevated") refers to rusticity and lack cultural polish typical of a person from outlying regions, a country bumpkin.

  4. Yě 野 (ant. wén 文 "properly educacted, civilised") refers to true country style without necessarily strong negative connotations, but with clear overtones of condescension.

  5. Zhòng 眾 (ant. zhuō 卓 "outstanding") refers to what is characteristically linked to the hoi polloi, the ordinary people at large.

  6. Pǐ fū 匹夫 and bù yī 布衣 (ant. jūn zǐ 君子 "gentleman") refer specifically to males of the lower classes or males without public employment.

  7. Pǐ fù 匹婦 refers specifically to the wife of a person without public employment.

• MATE
  

  1. The most current general word for a partner of the other sex is pǐ 匹, and one suspects that even when the word refers to mates of one sex this meaning is an effect of the context rather than the meaning of the word itself.

  2. O ㄆ偶 refers to a concrete partner or to more abstractly, like Modern Chinese duìxiàng 對象 to refer to the notion of someone who will fill the role of partner of the other sex. NB: one may qiú ǒu 求偶 and xuǎn ǒu 選偶, but it appears pǐ 匹 is not used in such contexts.

  3. Qiú 逑 is a poetic poet and archaising word for a mate.

  4. Bì 嬖 refers to a senior person's favourite of either sex with whom he may or may not entertain sexual relations as part of the relationship.

• COMMONER
  

  1. Pǐ fū 匹夫 (ant. jūn zǐ 君子 "gentleman; freeman") and the rarer xì rén 細人 is a purely sociological term referring to a person without public office.

  2. Xiǎo rén 小人 (ant. jūn zǐ 君子 ) is a term of moral or personal appraisal and refers to a person of minor worth or of no moral merit.

Word relations