Taxonomy of meanings for 敗:　　

  • 敗 bài (OC: praads MC: bɯai) 薄邁切 去 廣韻：【敗籀文 】
  • 敗 bài (OC: braads MC: bɯai) 薄邁切 去 廣韻：【自破曰敗説文毀也薄邁切又北邁切四 】
    • (passive)>DESTROY
      • nabpassivedestruction, ruin
      • vtoNfigurativeto ruin (also abstract things, e.g. the legal system)
      • vtoNpassivebe physically ruined, be wrecked, be destroyed
      • vtoNmiddle voiceget destroyed
      • (passive) figurative>OFFEND
        • vtoNtransferred: offend against, fly in the face of (teachings etc)
      • natural causes>ROTTEN
        • vadNgone-off, rotten
        • vichangego bad (as of meat)
        • viperfectiveresultative: have gone bad and be stinking (as of meat)
        • vtoNcausativecause to become rotten > ruin
        • exocentric: rotten>FOOD
          • generalised>DISASTER
              • moral>BAD
                • vadNfigurativerotten> depraved, good-for-nothing
            • specific>WITHER
                • figurative>TIRED
                  • vadNworn-out
            • (passive) in battle>DEFEAT
              • nabpassiveread braads: military defeat; failure
              • vipassiveread braads: be defeated, suffer defeat
              • vtoNread praads: inflict defeat on
              • vtoNallowread braads: allow oneself to be defeated
              • vt(oN)causativeread braads: cause to be defeated
              • vtoNcausativeread praads: defeat (oneself)
              • vtoNmiddle voiceread braads: be defeated; suffer defeat
              • vtoNpassiveread braads: be defeated by N 再敗楚師 "be defeated by the Chu army for a second time" (Many ATTRIBUTIONS NEED TO BE MOVED TO FAIL)
              • vtpost.npro:+prep+Npermissiveread braads: allow (oneself) to be defeated by N 自敗於秦
              • nab(.post-N)one's defeatCH
              • vadNpassivedoomed to suffer defeat;DS
              • vi+N{PLACE}passivesuffer defeat at NDS
              • generalised>FAIL
                • nabeventfailure
                • vieventfail; come to fail in one's undertakings
                • vtoNcausativecause (one's own army) to fail; cause the failure of (a plan or a strategy)
                • vadNfaling, unsuccessfulCH
                • vtoNpassivebe made to fail, be ruined, be brought to a bad endCH
                • visubject=vehiclebreak down (vehicle etc)CH
        • 敗 bài (OC: praads MC: pɯai) 補邁切 去 廣韻：【破他曰敗補邁切又音唄一 】
          • active, in battle>DEFEAT
            • nabpassiveread braads: military defeat; failure
            • vipassiveread braads: be defeated, suffer defeat
            • vtoNread praads: inflict defeat on
            • vtoNallowread braads: allow oneself to be defeated
            • vt(oN)causativeread braads: cause to be defeated
            • vtoNcausativeread praads: defeat (oneself)
            • vtoNmiddle voiceread braads: be defeated; suffer defeat
            • vtoNpassiveread braads: be defeated by N 再敗楚師 "be defeated by the Chu army for a second time" (Many ATTRIBUTIONS NEED TO BE MOVED TO FAIL)
            • vtpost.npro:+prep+Npermissiveread braads: allow (oneself) to be defeated by N 自敗於秦
            • nab(.post-N)one's defeatCH
            • vadNpassivedoomed to suffer defeat;DS
            • vi+N{PLACE}passivesuffer defeat at NDS
            • active, transitive: generalised>DESTROY
              • nabpassivedestruction, ruin
              • vtoNfigurativeto ruin (also abstract things, e.g. the legal system)
              • vtoNpassivebe physically ruined, be wrecked, be destroyed
              • vtoNmiddle voiceget destroyed
            • causative, figurative: reduce to chatoic state>CHAOS
              • bureaucratic>DEMOTE
                • (late collouqial) generalised>REMOVE

                Additional information about 敗

                說文解字:

                  Criteria
                • DEFEAT

                  1. The current general word for defeating someoneor some state in any form of battle is bài 敗.

                  2. Pò 破 (ant. quán 全 "leave intact") refers to a complete routing of an opponent.

                  3. Jìn 盡 refers to the complete annihilation of an opponent.

                  4. Fù 覆 refers to the inflicting of a major defeat with lasting effects on an army.

                  5. Qīng 傾 refers to the toppling of a system of government.

                  6. Wáng 亡 (ant. cún 存 "allow to survive") refers specifically to causing the discontinuation of a state.

                  7. Cuò 挫 refers specifically to inflicting a military defeat on an army.

                  8. Bài jī 敗績 refers to a major military defeat.

                  9. Fù 負 occasionally refers to a defeat suffered, but usually in the combination shèng fù 勝負, and as a verb it does not take objects or complements. See FAIL

                • FAIL

                  1. The current general word for failure is shī 失 (ant. dé 得 "get somewhere").

                  2. Qióng 窮 (ant. dá 達 "successful") refers to getting into an impasse, a situation from which there is no way out, or being hopelessly unsuccessful with what one is trying to do.

                  3. Bài 敗 (ant. chéng 成 "achieve one's purpose") construes failure as a defeat in some personal or social undertaking or campaign.

                  4. Bēng 崩 construes a failure as a momentous disaster.

                  5. Fù 負 refers specifically to a defeat versus a victory.

                • WIN

                  1. The current general word for winning or gaining the upper hand in any way, including warfare, is shèng 勝 (ant. bài 敗 "be defeated").

                  2. Kè 克 (ant. shī 失 "lose in battle") refers to subduing an enemy force by military means, winning against an enemy so as to control him as a result.

                  3. Qǔ 取 (ant. fù 負 "fail") refers to conquering a place so as to gain full control over it, and the word usually refers to a victory won easily.

                  4. Bá 拔 and jǔ 舉 refers to conquering a place without necessarily keeping full control over it.

                  5. Jié 劫 refers specifically to victory gained through ruse or indirect tactics.

                • ROTTEN

                  1. The current general word for rottenness is fǔ 腐 (ant. xiān 鮮 "still fresh").

                  2. Xiǔ 朽 (ant. xīn 新 "fresh") typically refers to the rottenness of trees or bones.

                  3. Mí 糜 (ant. jiān 堅 "firm and unrotten") and the Han words làn 爛 emphasise the unretrievable state of complete rottenness.

                  4. Bài 敗 (ant. gù 固 "firm and unimpaired") focusses on radical or essential changes brought about by the rotting process.

                  5. Něi 餒 (ant. xiān 鮮 "still very fresh") refers specifically to the rottenness of fish.

                • DESTROY

                  1. The current general word for destruction of any kind is huǐ 毀, and what is destroyed may anything from a toy or a house to a state.

                  2. Miè 滅 refers to the physical destruction of cities or states, and the word implies the use of external military force, and typically military resistance.

                  3. Pò 破 is always violent destruction of concrete objects of any kind.

                  4. Cán 殘 focusses on the reckless attitude shown by the destroyer.

                  5. Yāng 殃 focusses on the disaster constituted by destruction, and this word is used mostly nominally.

                  6. Suì 碎 focusses on complete smashing into small pieces of what is destroyed.

                  7. Huài 壞 and huī 墮 / 隳 are "to be destroyed, to collapse" but the words are also used transitively "cause to be destroyed, cause to collapse".

                  8. Wáng 亡 (ant. fù 復 "reestablish") refers to the political/social ruin of a state and does not focus on any form of physical annihilation or damage.

                  9. Bài 敗 and zéi 賊 are currently used for the destruction of abstract things such as dé 德 "virtue".

                • ACHIEVE

                  [EASY/DIFFICULT]

                  [EXPECTED/UNEXPECTED]

                  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

                  [IMPORTANT/UNIMPORTANT]

                  [LARGE-SCALE/SMALL-SCALE]

                  [MEDIOCRE/ STANDARD/PERFECT]

                  [NOUN/VERB]

                  [TRANSIENT/LASTING]

                  1. The current general word for successful action on one's own behalf or on someone else's behalf is chéng 成 (ant. bài 敗 "fail to achieve; botch up").

                  [GENERAL], [LARGE-SCALE]; [VERB]

                  2 The current general word for successfully completed action on one's own behalf or in one's own interest is dé 得 "manage to" (ant. shī 失 "fail in, get wrong" and ant.* bù néng 不能 "not manage to").

                  [DIFFICULT], [SELFISH], [STANDARD]; [VERB]

                  3. Zhì 至 refers to successful action on one's own behalf on a very high level.

                  [DIFFICULT], [PERFECT], [SELFISH]; [VERB]

                  4. Zhì 致 refers specifically to remarkable successful action, typically on others' behalf.

                  [ALTRUISTIC], [DIFFICULT]; [VERB]

                  5. Lì 立 refers to successful action resulting in a lasting objective result of one's efforts.

                  [ALTRUISTIC], [LARGE-SCALE]; [VERB]

                  6. Suì 遂 refers to eventual successful completion of something one has planned.

                  [EXPECTED]; [VERB]

                  7. Gōng 功 refers to the achievement of something regarded as important to others. See MERIT.

                  [ALTRUISTIC], [IMPORTANT]; [NOUN]

                  8. Gōng jì 功跡 refers to achievements as leaving a lasting trace on the future.

                • OFFEND

                  1. The current most general word for offending against what one is obliged to act in accordance with or going against a current is probably nì 逆 (ant. shùn 順 "follow and obey"), which refers to any action which goes against something.

                  2. Fàn 犯 (ant. cǒng 從 "follow obediently") refers as a derogatory term to a deliberate and active breaking of a rule.

                  3. Gān 干 and gān 奸 are rare words referring specifically to culpable breach of the law.

                  4. Wéi 違 (ant. xún 循 "follow") and the rarer lí 離 as well as fēi 非 are neutral terms referring to a failure to comply with something.

                  5. Fú 拂 refers to something grating against sensibilities or creating a conflict.

                  6. Fáng 妨 adds to the failure of compliance the nuance of interference with what one fails to comply with.

                  7. Kuī 虧 adds to the failure of compliance the nuance of inflicting harm or damage on what one fails to comply with.

                  8. Shāng 傷, hài 害, and bài 敗 add to the failure of compliance the element of ruining what one has failed to comply with exactly by this failure of compliance; but hài 害 has developed a special related meaning of offending logically against something, i.e. being incompatible with it.

                • MERIT

                  1. The current general word for achievements of any kind is gōng 功.

                  2. Láo 勞 refers to meritorious effort as typically resulting in meritorious results.

                  3. Xūn 勛／勳 refers to outstanding contributions to the state and this word cannot refer to personal achievements.

                  4. Fá 伐 refers to a manifest achievement which is there for everyone to admire.

                  5. Jī 績 refers to results obtained, which in principle can be both positive and negative (we have gōng jī 功績 "positive results" as well as bài jī 敗績 "negative results").

                  Word relations
                • Ant: (FAIL)功/SUCCEED
                • Ant: (FAIL)功/SUCCEED
                • Ant: (FAIL)成/SUCCEED
                • Ant: (DESTROY)成/ACHIEVE The current general word for successful action on one's own behalf or on someone else's behalf is chéng 成 (ant. bài 敗 "fail to achieve; botch up"). [GENERAL], [LARGE-SCALE]; [VERB]
                • Ant: (DEFEAT)克 / 剋/WIN Kè 克 (ant. shī 失 "lose in battle") refers to subduing an enemy force by military means, winning against an enemy so as to control him as a result.
                • Ant: (DESTROY)為/GOVERN Wéi 為, yǒu 有, yòng 用, lín 臨, lì 蒞, lǐ 理 are polite ways of referring to the government by a legitimate ruler.
                • Epithet: (ROTTEN)酒/LIQUOR
                • Assoc: (DEFEAT)亡/DIE Wáng 亡 "cease to be" is a polite and periphrastic way of referring to death.
                • Assoc: (DESTROY)壞/DESTROY Huài 壞 and huī 墮/隳 are "to be destroyed, to collapse" but the words are also used transitively "cause to be destroyed, cause to collapse".
                • Assoc: (DEFEAT)亡/DESTROY Wáng 亡 (ant. fù 復 "reestablish") refers to the political/social ruin of a state and does not focus on any form of physical annihilation or damage.
                • Assoc: (DESTROY)毀/DESTROY The current general word for destruction of any kind is huǐ 毀, and what is destroyed may anything from a toy or a house to a state.
                • Assoc: (DEFEAT)禍/DISASTER The most common general word for disasters is huò 禍 (ant. fú 福 "good fortune") which has no connotations of any metaphysical kind. (In OBI the character currently transcribed as huò 禍 - and closely related to 占 - refers not only to disasters as such, but particularly to disastrous omens.)
                • Assoc: (ROTTEN)腐/ROTTEN The current general word for rottenness is fǔ 腐(ant. xiān 鮮 "still fresh").
                • Synon: (DESTROY)亡/DESTROY Wáng 亡 (ant. fù 復 "reestablish") refers to the political/social ruin of a state and does not focus on any form of physical annihilation or damage.
                • Synon: (FAIL)廢/FAIL
                • Synon: (DESTROY)毀/DESTROY The current general word for destruction of any kind is huǐ 毀, and what is destroyed may anything from a toy or a house to a state.
                • Synon: (ROTTEN)朽/ROTTEN Xiǔ 朽 (ant. xīn 新 "fresh") typically refers to the rottenness of trees or bones.
                • Synon: (ROTTEN)腐/ROTTEN The current general word for rottenness is fǔ 腐(ant. xiān 鮮 "still fresh").
                • Synon: (DEFEAT)覆/DEFEAT Fù 覆 refers to the inflicting of a major defeat with lasting effects on an army.