两百万 (liǎng bǎi wàn) — two million

Definition

numeral
two million

Examples

  • 两百万
    Tā qù nián zhuàn le liǎng bǎi wàn rén mín bì.
    He earned two million yuan last year.
  • 两百万
    Zhè ge chéng shì zhù zhù liǎng bǎi wàn rén.
    This city has a population of two million.
  • 两百万
    Zhè cì xiàng mù xū yào liǎng bǎi wàn měi yuán tóu zī.
    This project requires an investment of two million dollars.

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.

百万million
bǎihundredwànten thousand
偏正Modifier + head

两 means two; 百 and 万 together mean a hundred ten-thousands, making a million.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

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
báibǎi
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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