一切經音義 15.201

15.201

匹偶（繽必反。鄭注禮記云匹偶也。廣雅輩也。毛詩傳配也。爾雅合也。淮南子云五尺者中人之常度也。以五乘八五八四十成匹。說文四丈也。從八匚匚者曳八牒成匹俗用作疋非也。此俗疋字乃有四者皆古文奇字中是雅字也或音踈或音䟽或音胥。下偶音五狗反。廣雅偶諧也偶二也陰之數也。鄭注禮記云雙也。賈注國語云對也。說文桐人也從人禺聲也）。

Mate and partner (匹偶: [匹 is] b[īn]-bì [fǎn]. Zheng's commentary on the Liji says: "匹 means a mate." The Guangya says: "Of the same sort." The Mao commentary on the Shijing says: "To match." The Erya says: "To unite." The Huainanzi says: "Five feet is the standard height of an average person; multiplying five by eight, five eights are forty, making a bolt (匹)." The Shuowen says: "Four zhang." It takes bā (八) and fāng (匚); 匚 refers to pulling out eight folds to form a bolt. Vulgar usage writing 疋 is incorrect. This vulgar 疋 character has four forms, which among the ancient and rare characters is the standard form; sometimes pronounced shū, sometimes shū, or sometimes xū. The lower character ǒu (偶) is pronounced w[ǔ]-gǒu [fǎn]. The Guangya says: "偶 means harmonious; 偶 means two, the yin number." Zheng's commentary on the Liji says: "A pair." Jia's commentary on the Guoyu says: "A counterpart." The Shuowen says: "A wooden figurine." It takes the person radical (人) and yú (禺) phonetic).