Taxonomy of meanings for 被:　　

Additional information about 被

說文解字: 【被】， 𡪢 衣，長一身有半。 〔小徐本「𡪢」作「𡫒」。〕 从衣、皮聲。 【平義切】

Criteria
• SUFFER
  

  1. The most general word referring to a person's being exposed to something is probably shòu 受 (ant. shī 施 "have an effect on, act upon"), which can take both desirable and non-desirable objects.

  2. Jiàn 見 tends to take verbal complements and tends to refer to a person being exposed to undesirable effects.

  3. Qǔ 取 refers to deliberate exposure to an action or exposure to something by one's own fault.

  4. Beì 被 tends to refer to exposure to undesirable effects from the outside.

  5. Zāo 遭 and yù 遇 refer to unexpected and unprovoked exposure to outside effects.

  6. Měng 蒙 often refers to deliberate exposure to negative outside dangers or effects, but the word also has a generalised use where it simply corresponds to shòu 受.

  7. Lí 罹 and its loan character lí 離 refer to innocently running into some trouble or encountering some sorrow.

  8. Xiàn 陷 "get trapped in" refers occasionally to a disastrous encounter with what turns out inescapable. See TRAP

• PASSIVE MARKER
  

  1. The most current general marker of the passive is jiàn 見 which means literally "be exposed to, face".

  2. Passives in wéi 為 "be the object of" abstractly indicates that the verb it modifies is neutrally passive.

  3. Passives in bèi 被 "suffer" typically refers to the suffering of something undesirable.

  4. Passives in qǔ 取 "bring upon onesel" typically refers to the suffering of something undesirable by one's own fault.

  5. Passives in zāo 遭 "come upon" and yù 遇 "run into" refer to running into what tend to be undesirable situations one is exposed to.

  <div>6. Passives in shòu 受 "receive" refers to an agent being the recipient of some impact from the outside.</div><div><br></div><div>7. For passives in yú 於 see the entry under SUFFER.<br></div><br>NB: Note that the notion of the passive is notoriously hard to define for a language like classical Chinese. What some grammarians view as passive constructions will be construed by others as periphrastic ways of expressing with various transitive verbs what other other languages express with passive forms.

• TAKE OFF
  

  1. The current word for taking off clothes is jiě 解 (ant. pī 被 "put on").

  2. Shì 釋 (ant.* yì 衣 "put on (clothes)" refers to the taking off of any part of one's clothes and typically suggests that no further use is to made of them by the person who is thus taking them off.

  3. Tǎn 袒 refers to the baring of one's chest and upper arms.

  4. Xī 裼 refers to the baring of the whole upper part of one's body.

  5. Wèn 免 refers to the taking off of head-gear.

  6. Tuō 脫 typically refers to the taking off of footwear.

  7. Luǒ 裸 refers to taking off clothes so as to show parts of one's bare body.

  8. Chú 除 refers to the removal of any part of one's clothing.

• COVER
  

  1. The current general word for any mode of covering something for any purpose or in any way is fù 覆. The covering agent can be animate or inanimate, but typically the purpose of the covering is protection.

  2. Bèi 被 is to cover all over, typically in order as to protect from outside impact of cold etc.. The covering agent is typically human.

  3. Bì 蔽 (cog. bì4 庇 "protect") is to cover so as to keep from physical or intellectual sight, and this may be said freely of animate and inanimate subjects to whom the covering effect is attributed.

  4. Yǎn 掩 / 揜 is an informal word which focusses on the deliberate act by a human, executed with his hand, which is designed to prevent something from being discovered or from getting in touch with other things.

  5. Gài 蓋 is to cover with a lid or the like, typically to protect not against damage but against intrusion of external things. See HIDE

  6. Méng 蒙 is typically and primarily to make something obscure by some action of hiding or covering it, often with paper or cloth.

  7. Jīn 巾 refers to covering something with a cloth.

  8. Zhē 遮 is an elevated term referring to covering up something so as to protect it against interference from the outside and to hinder physical access of hostile forces, and this covering may be by humans or by physical effects.

• WEAR
  

  1. The current general word for wearing clothes or putting on clothes of any kind is yì 衣 (ant. tuō 脫 "take off").

  2. Fú 服 (ant. xiè 卸 "take off") refers to dressing up for an official occasion.

  3. Bèi 被 refers to putting on or wearing outer clothing of any kind, especially cloak-like garments.

  4. Zhōng 衷 and zhōng 中 refer to wearing as underwear.

  5. Biǎo 表 refers to wearing as outer visible clothes.

  6. Dài 戴 refers to wearing something on one's head.

  7. Lu# 履 refers to wearing something on one's feet.

• BLANKET
  

  [[CONGERIES]]

  1. Bèi 被 is a general term for a blanket, and the word perhaps has something of a colloquial flavour.

  [FAMILIAR?]

  2. Qīn 衾 is probably the most common general word for a blanket, but the word also has specific uses where it emphasises the large size of a blanket. Ancient Chinese blankets were generally made with "silk-cotton, silk floss" miǎn 綿 (not identical with modern miánhuā 棉花 ) or hemp fillings. This type of blanket was important in funeral rites.

  3. Chóu 裯 refers to a single-layered thin blanket.

  4. Rèn 衽 refers to a thin blanket covering a mattress rù 褥. See MAT.

  5. Qiǎng 襁 refers to a small wrapping blanket which packs up babies to be carried on one's back.

  6. Bǎo 褓 refers generally to a small blanket used to protect a child against the cold.

  7. Qǐn yī 寢衣 refers to a relatively short blanket under which to sleep when it is not too cold, maybe even a kind of pyjamas (but note that in China as in the Middle Ages in Europe one tended to sleep naked, apparently).

Word relations
• Object: (SUFFER)刑/PUNISH Xíng 刑 refers specifically to physical punishment. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SUFFER)觸/ENCOUNTER Chù 觸 is occasionally used to refer to someone bumping into someone else.
• Contrast: (SUFFER)遭/ENCOUNTER Zāo 遭 refers to running into something (often something negative).
• Contrast: (RECEIVE)得/OBTAIN The current general and highly abstract verb for obtaining any form of possession of anything abstract or concrete is dé 得 (ant. shī 失 "lose inadvertently"). 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SUFFER)觸/ENCOUNTER Chù 觸 is occasionally used to refer to someone bumping into someone else.
• Synon: (SUFFER)蒙/SUFFER Měng 蒙 often refers to deliberate exposure to negative outside dangers or effects, but the word also has a generalised use where it simply corresponds to shòu 受. 1 Attribution