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几万 (jǐ wàn) — tens of thousands

Definition

几 means 'a few/several' and 几万 is its multiplier form — 'several ten-thousands', i.e. tens of thousands. Use it for a rough large quantity, more than 几千 ('a few thousand') but less than a precise count.

numeral
tens of thousands

Examples

  • 几万。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu jǐ wàn rén.
    This city has tens of thousands of people.
  • 几万。
    Tā huā le jǐ wàn kuài qián mǎi le zhè liàng chē.
    He spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy this car.
  • 几万。
    Měi nián yǒu jǐ wàn rén lái zhè ge dì fāng.
    Every year, tens of thousands of people come to this place.

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.

几jǐseveral
万wànten thousand

几 gives “several,” and 万 means “ten thousand,” so the sense is several ten-thousands.

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 幾; 几 is its simplified writing.

  • 𢆶𢆶𢆶silk threads; little things
  • 戍戍shùto guard against

The traditional form 幾 puts 𢆶 (silk threads; little things) and 戍 (to guard against) together to show watching over the fine details; the simplified 几 is a later abbreviation.

Open 几 →

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 & Counting

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