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不下 (bú xià) — no less than (a certain quantity); at least

Definition

不下 emphasizes a surprising or impressive lower bound ('no less than') — closer to 不亚于 in tone. 至少 is the neutral 'at least' for stating minimums in everyday contexts.

verb
no less than (a certain quantity)at least

Examples

  • 不下。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de rén kǒu bú xià yì bǎi wàn.
    This city has a population of no less than one million.
  • 不下。
    Tā měi tiān gōng zuò bú xià shí èr gè xiǎo shí.
    He works at least twelve hours every day.
  • 不下。
    Zhè cì huó dòng bú xià sān qiān rén cān jiā.
    No less than three thousand people attended this event.

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.

不bùnot
下xiàbelow

不 gives not, and 下 gives below, so it means not below a stated amount.

Characters in this word

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Quantity & Amount

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