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同期 (tóng qī) — the same period (in a different year, e.g., same quarter or month); the same time (for events happening concurrently)

Definition

同期 names a time point in another reference frame — e.g. last year's same quarter — so it always pairs with a comparison. 同步 is the verb 'to sync'; 平行 covers parallel/equal-rank senses that 同期 does not.

noun
the same period (in a different year, e.g., same quarter or month)the same time (for events happening concurrently)

Examples

  • 同期15%。
    Jīn nián dì yī jì dù de xiāo shòu é bǐ tóng qī zēng zhǎng le 15%.
    Sales in the first quarter of this year increased by 15% compared to the same period last year.
  • 同期，。
    Liǎng gè huì yì tóng qī jǔ xíng, wǒ zhǐ néng cān jiā yí gè.
    The two meetings are held concurrently, so I can only attend one.
  • 同期，。
    Tā men shì dà xué tóng qī, bì yè hòu jìn le tóng yì jiā gōng sī.
    They were in the same graduating class at university and joined the same company after graduation.

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.

同tóngsame
期qīperiod

「同」means same and 「期」means period, giving the idea of the same time period.

Characters in this word

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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