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上千万 (shàng qiān wàn) — tens of millions; over ten million

Definition

A numeral meaning 'tens of millions' or 'over ten million' (literally 'up to/over ten millions'). Used for very large quantities, often in formal or business contexts.

numeral
tens of millionsover ten million

Examples

  • 上千万。
    Tā huā le shàng qiān wàn mǎi fáng zi.
    He spent tens of millions to buy a house.
  • 上千万。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu shàng qiān wàn rén kǒu.
    This city has tens of millions of people.
  • 上千万。
    Gōng sī qù nián zhuàn le shàng qiān wàn lì rùn.
    The company made tens of millions in profit last year.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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.

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 →
Appears in
Numbers & CountingQuantity & Amount

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