一千八百万 (yì qiān bā bǎi wàn) — 18 million (18,000,000)

Definition

A specific large number: 18 million (18,000,000). Use 百万 for 'million' in modern Chinese; 亿 is for 100 million. The numeric form 一千八百万 equals 一千八 × 十万 (eighteen hundred × one hundred thousand).

numeral
18 million (18,000,000)

Examples

  • 一千八百万。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu yì qiān bā bǎi wàn rén kǒu.
    This city has a population of 18 million.
  • 一千八百万。
    Tā zhōng le yì qiān bā bǎi wàn dà jiǎng.
    He won a grand prize of 18 million.
  • 一千八百万。
    Gōng sī qù nián zhuàn le yì qiān bā bǎi wàn yuán.
    The company made 18 million yuan last year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

一千八百one thousand eight hundred
一yīone千qiānthousand八bāeight百bǎihundred
联合Side by side
万wànten thousand

一千八百 and 万 combine to give 18 million.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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