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周期 (zhōu qī) — period, cycle

Definition

周期 means a recurring 'period / cycle' — a fixed interval that repeats (one year, 28 days). More technical and regular than 时期 (an open-ended phase); more about the repeated loop than 循环 (the verb 'to circulate').

noun
periodcycle

Examples

  • 周期。
    Dì qiú zhuàn dòng de zhōu qī shì yì nián.
    The Earth's rotation cycle is one year.
  • 周期28。
    Nǚ xìng de shēng lǐ zhōu qī dà yuē shì 28 tiān.
    A woman's menstrual cycle is about 28 days.
  • 周期。
    Zhè ge jī qì de wéi xiū zhōu qī shì sān gè yuè.
    The maintenance cycle of this machine is three months.

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.

周zhōucycle
期qīperiod

周 means cycle and 期 means period, so together they describe the length of one complete cycle.

Characters in this word

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

The oldest form of 周 drew a jade artifact with carved patterns. It was later borrowed for a place name, so an extra mark was added to distinguish it.

Open 周 →

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 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Time (Abstract)

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