几亿 (jǐ yì) — several hundred million; hundreds of millions

Definition

几亿 means 'several hundred million' — 几 sits before 亿 as an indefinite multiplier, similar to 几个 / 几十 / 几百. The amount is vague but always large, typically 2–9 hundred million.

numeral

several hundred millionhundreds of millions

Examples

几亿。
Zhōng guó yǒu jǐ yì rén kǒu.
China has hundreds of millions of people.
几亿。
Tā huā le jǐ yì kuài qián mǎi fáng zi.
He spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying a house.
几亿。
Zhè cì tóu zī shè jí jǐ yì zī jīn.
This investment involves hundreds of millions of funds.

Origin

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 億; 亿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

人人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

意

意yì億yì

Same sound today

The traditional form 億 pairs 人 (person) with 意 for its sound; the simplified 亿 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 亿 →

Appears in