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外汇 (wài huì) — foreign exchange (currency or market)

Definition

外汇 refers to the foreign-currency market and the business of exchanging currencies — broader than 汇率 (just the exchange rate) and 外币 (just the currency itself). 外汇市场 and 外汇交易 are the common collocations.

noun
foreign exchange (currency or market)

Examples

  • 外汇。
    Zuì jìn wài huì shì chǎng bō dòng hěn dà.
    The foreign exchange market has been very volatile recently.
  • 外汇。
    Tā kào wài huì jiāo yì zhuàn le hěn duō qián.
    He made a lot of money through foreign exchange trading.
  • 外汇。
    Chū guó qián bié wàng le duì huàn yì xiē wài huì.
    Don't forget to exchange some foreign currency before going abroad.

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.

外wàiforeign
汇huìexchange

“外” specifies foreign and “汇” means exchange, together naming foreign exchange.

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 匯; 汇 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 汇 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (汇, 汇款) it is 匯; in others (词汇, 汇报) it is 彙.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
匚匚fāng
Sound part声符shēngfú
淮
淮huái匯huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 匯 is built from 匚 as a meaning part and 淮 as a sound part.

Open 汇 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Economy & TradeFinance & Banking

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