几千万 (jǐ qiān wàn) — tens of millions

Definition

A large round number meaning 'tens of millions' — read as 'jǐ qiān wàn'. The single character 几 here means 'several', combined with 千 (thousand) and 万 (ten thousand): several thousand ten-thousands = tens of millions.

numeral
tens of millions
Easily confused

Examples

  • 几千万。
    Zhè ge gōng sī tóu zī le jǐ qiān wàn měi yuán.
    This company invested tens of millions of dollars.
  • 几千万。
    Zhōng guó yǒu jǐ qiān wàn de rén kǒu shēng huó zài chéng shì lǐ.
    Tens of millions of people in China live in cities.
  • 几千万。
    Tā zhōng le jǐ qiān wàn de dà jiǎng.
    He won a big prize of tens of millions.

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
千万ten million
千qiānthousand万wànten thousand
偏正Modifier + head

Several thousand ten-thousands gives tens of millions.

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.

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 →

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