十七八 (shí qī bā) — around seventeen or eighteen (used for age or approximate number, typically of people)

Definition

A loose numeral meaning 'around seventeen or eighteen,' used for approximate ages or counts. Written together as one chunk rather than as a range.

numeral
around seventeen or eighteen (used for age or approximate number, typically of people)

Examples

  • 十七八。
    Tā jīn nián shí qī bā suì le.
    She is around seventeen or eighteen years old this year.
  • 十七八。
    Jiào shì lǐ yǒu shí qī bā gè xiǎo huǒ zi.
    There are about seventeen or eighteen young men in the classroom.
  • 十七八。
    Tā shí qī bā nián qián jiù chū guó le.
    He went abroad about seventeen or eighteen years ago.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

十七seventeen
十shíten七qīseven
联合Side by side
八bāeight

十七 gives seventeen and 八 gives eight, so the number is around seventeen or eighteen.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

Open 七 →

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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