切尔西 (Qiè ěr xī) — Chelsea (London district; also Chelsea Football Club)

Definition

Transliteration of 'Chelsea' — refers to the London district and especially Chelsea F.C. in football contexts. In Chinese media it almost always means the Premier League club, not the neighborhood.

noun
Chelsea (London district; also Chelsea Football Club)

Examples

  • 切尔西。
    Wǒ shì Qiè ěr xī de qiú mí.
    I am a Chelsea fan.
  • 切尔西。
    Qiè ěr xī Shàng sài jì yíng dé le yīng chāo guàn jūn.
    Chelsea won the Premier League championship last season.
  • 切尔西。
    Wǒ péng you qù le lún dūn de Qiè ěr xī qū cān guān.
    My friend visited the Chelsea district in London.

Origin

Characters in this word

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
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
七
七qī切qiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 切, the 刀 (knife) part is joined to 七, which gives the sound.

Open 切 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爾; 尔 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爾, simplified as 尔, originally drew cloth on a loom with crossing threads. It was borrowed for its sound to write “you,” so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 尔 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 西 →

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