匹

匹 (Kangxi radical 23, 匸+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 尸金 (SC), four-corner 7171₁, composition ⿷匚儿(GJKV) or ⿷匸⿰丿㇄(HT))

• 甚

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 154, character 36
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 2673
• Dae Jaweon: page 347, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 81, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5339

Historical forms of the character 匹
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Uncertain. Shuowen considers it to be an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰid) : phonetic 八 (OC *preːd, “eight”) + semantic 匸 (“to conceal”) – unit of measuring cloth. 八 refers to eight folds in one 匹 of cloth (two bolts of cloth), and 匸 refers to concealing the two ends of the cloth when rolling it up. This interpretation is not likely since the older forms evidently do not contain these components.

Various theories have been proposed based on the evidence from the bronze inscriptions:

• Pictogram (象形) of folds in cloth (Lin, 1920);
• Ideogram (指事) : half of 丙 (“two horses”) – one horse (Zhang et al., 1996), but the origin of the character 丙 is also uncertain (for example, it could be the tail of a fish);
• Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *pʰid) : semantic 石 (“rock”) + phonetic 乙 (OC *qriɡ) or 乀 (MC phjut). The phonetic component may be replaced with 匕 (OC *pilʔ) (not shown above).

Uncertain. Possibly related to Khmer ពីរ (pii, “two”) or Mizo phîr (“double; forked; twin”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Wang (1982) considers it to be cognate with 比 (OC *piʔ, “to compare; to match”), 媲 (OC *pʰiːs, “to match; to pair”).

The meaning “four zhang of cloth” is probably a special application, but it is reminiscent of Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ləj (“four”) (ibid.).

匹

1. ^† to match; to be equal

   匹配  ―  pǐpèi  ―  to match

   匹敵／匹敌  ―  pǐdí  ―  to be equal

2. ^† match; equal; opponent
3. ^† mate; spouse
4. ^† single; one
5. ^† four zhang of cloth
6. Classifier for bolts of cloth.

   一匹布  ―  yī pǐ bù  ―  a bolt of cloth

7. (Sichuanese) Classifier for flat surfaces or objects (hillside, leaves, tiles, etc.).
8. (Sichuanese) Classifier for long, thin objects (bones, feathers, grass, bamboo strips, etc.).
9. (Sichuanese) Classifier for pieces or lumps (bricks, etc.).
10. (Sichuanese) Classifier for mountains.
11. a surname

匹

1. Classifier for horses, donkeys, mules, etc.

   一匹馬／一匹马  ―  yī pǐ mǎ  ―  a horse

   一匹斑馬／一匹斑马  ―  yī pǐ bānmǎ  ―  a zebra

   一匹狼  ―  yī pǐ láng  ―  a wolf

   一匹馬騾／一匹马骡  ―  yī pǐ mǎluó  ―  a mule

   一匹駱駝／一匹骆驼  ―  yī pǐ luòtuó  ―  a camel

   一匹騸馬／一匹骟马  ―  yī pǐ shànmǎ  ―  a gelding

   一匹騾子／一匹骡子  ―  yī pǐ luózi  ―  a mule

2. (dialectal, including Sichuanese) Classifier for animals.

   • 阿Q沒有說完話，拔步便跑；追來的是一匹很肥大的黑狗。 [MSC, trad.]
     阿Q没有说完话，拔步便跑；追来的是一匹很肥大的黑狗。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1922, 魯迅 (Lu Xun), 阿Q正傳 (The True Story of Ah Q), translation from the Marxists Internet Archive

     Ā Q méiyǒu shuō wán huà, bábù biàn pǎo; zhuī lái de shì yī pǐ hěn féidà de hēi gǒu. [Pinyin]

     Leaving his sentence unfinished, Ah Q took to his heels as fast as he could, followed by an enormously fat, black dog.

   • 吱吱吱，一匹耗子在什麼暗角裡鳴叫。 [Sichuanese, trad.]
     吱吱吱，一匹耗子在什么暗角里鸣叫。 [Sichuanese, simp.]

     From: 1974, 克非 (Kefei), 春潮急

     Squeak squeak squeak, a mouse is squeaking in some dark corner.

3. horsepower

   • 張女士投訴稱，因為家裡一台一匹分體空調不製冷，以為是雪種不夠了，就花了100元加雪種，但是兩天之後又不製冷了。 [MSC, trad.]
     张女士投诉称，因为家里一台一匹分体空调不制冷，以为是雪种不够了，就花了100元加雪种，但是两天之后又不制冷了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2007 August 3, 空调加雪种陷阱面面观, in 南方都市报

     Zhāng nǚshì tóusù chēng, yīnwèi jiālǐ yī tái yī pǐ fēntǐ kōngdiào bù zhìlěng, yǐwèi shì xuězhǒng bùgòu le, jiù huā le 100 yuán jiā xuězhǒng, dànshì liǎng tiān zhīhòu yòu bù zhìlěng le. [Pinyin]

     Ms. Zhang filed a complaint, saying that because her house's one-horsepower split air conditioner was not blowing cold air, she thought there were not enough freons. She spent 100 yuan to add freons, but two days later it was not blowing cold air again.

4. BTU (energy unit)

Borrowed from Thai บาท (bàat, “baht”).

匹

1. (Cantonese) baht; a Thai unit of currency

   五百匹 [Cantonese]  ―  ng⁵ baak³ pat¹ [Jyutping]  ―  five hundred baht

• 銖／铢 (zhū)

匹

1. Used in transcription.

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

• Go-on: ひち (hichi)
• Kan-on: ひつ (hitsu, Jōyō)
• Kun: ひき (hiki, 匹, Jōyō); たぐい (tagui); たぐう (taguu, 匹う)

The original hichi reading evolved into hiki by association with 引き (hiki, “pulling”), from the way that an animal's leash is pulled.

匹(ひき) • (-hiki) 

1. small animals

   犬(いぬ)が一(いっ)匹(ぴき)います。

   Inu ga ippiki imasu.

   There is one dog.

   猫(ねこ)三(さん)匹(びき)を飼(か)っています。

   Neko sanbiki o katte imasu.

   I have three cats.

   • 1984 February 20 [1983 June 15], Motoka Murakami, “気(き)になる新(しん)任(にん)先(せん)生(せい)の巻(まき) [A Little Worried about the New Teacher]”, in 六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん) (六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん)) [Musashi’s Sword], 4th edition, volume 10 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 147:

     先(せん)生(せい)　いたべ⁉

     Sensei ita be⁉

     Are they in there, Sensei!?

     おう！いたぞ。まっ白(しろ)いメス犬(いぬ)がお産(さん)のまっさいちゅうだ。２(に)～３(さん)匹(びき)うまれてるが、まだあと３(さん)匹(びき)ぐらいはうまれるな。

     Ō! Ita zo. Masshiroi mesuinu ga o-san no massaichū da. Ni~sanbiki umareteru ga, mada ato sanbiki gurai wa umareru na.

     Yeah! There’s a white dog giving birth in there. 2 or 3 pups have come out but there’s probably 3 more to come.

     白(しろ)いメス犬(いぬ)⁉ひょっとすると…⁉ほら六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)、前(まえ)に十(と)一(いち)さよく白(しろ)いノラ犬(いぬ)といっしょにあそんでいたでしょう。

     Shiroi mesuinu⁉ Hyotto suru to…⁉ Hora Musashi, mae ni Toichi sa yoku shiroi norainu to issho ni asonde ita deshō.

     A white dog!? Could it be…!? Hey Musashi, you remember Toichi used to go stay with a white stray dog a while back?

     うん‼

     Un‼

     Yeah!!

     きっと十(と)一(いち)の子(こ)よ‼十(と)一(いち)とあの白(しろ)い犬(いぬ)との赤(あか)ちゃんよ！

     Kitto Toichi no ko yo‼ Toichi to ano shiroi inu to no aka-chan yo!

     These must be Toichi’s puppies!! They’re Toichi and that white dog’s babies!

   • 2010 March 17 [2010 July 5], Hajime Isayama, “その日(ひ) [That Day]”, in 進撃の巨人 [Attack on Titan], 4th edition, volume 1, Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, pages 86–87:

     駆(く)逐(ちく)してやる‼この世(よ)から…一(いっ)匹(ぴき)…残(のこ)らず‼

     Kuchikushite yaru‼ Kono yo kara… ippiki… nokorazu‼

     I will wipe them out!! Every single one... of those pests... off the face of the earth!!

2. rolls of cloth
3. (historical) numbers of 銭(せん) (sen)

• Depending on the preceding word, -hiki may change via rendaku to become -biki or -piki.

• The counter for larger animals, such as livestock, is usually 頭 (tō, literally “head”).

• 疋

• 2002, Yasuo Kitahara, 明鏡国語辞典 (Meikyō Kokugo Jiten), First Edition (in Japanese), Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN

匹 • (pil, mok) (hangeul 필, 목, revised pil, mok, McCune–Reischauer p'il, mok)

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匹: Hán Nôm readings: thất, sất, sơ, sớt, sứt, thớt

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.