Skip to content

报bào

Character evolution

报

Hover to feel · click to explore

Simplified · Today

Shuowen

报 (bào). The character is formed by the radical 彳 (a step) on the left and the component 夂 (a foot) on the right, together depicting the act of stepping forward to deliver speech; thus the original meaning was to answer or report news. In oracle bone inscriptions the form appears as a foot moving toward a mouth, symbolizing the transmission of a message, and this pictographic origin explains why the character is written with two foot‑related elements. The composition reflects the ancient concept of going to speak, which is why the character came to mean to inform or respond.

Pinyin

bào· HSK 2