大写 (dà xiě) — capital letters, uppercase; elaborate Chinese n…

Definition

大写 has two unrelated meanings: 'capital letters' (大写字母) and 'elaborate Chinese numerals' (大写数字) used on checks and invoices to prevent forgery.

noun

capital lettersuppercaseelaborate Chinese numerals (used in finance to prevent tampering)

大写。
Yīng wén míng zì de shǒu zì mǔ bì xū dà xiě.
The first letter of an English name must be capitalized.
大写。
Zhè zhāng fā piào shàng suǒ yǒu jīn é dōu yào yòng dà xiě shù zì tián xiě.
All amounts on this invoice must be written in elaborate numerals.
。
Qǐng bǎ zhè jù huà gǎi wéi dà xiě zì mǔ.
Please change this sentence to capital letters.

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.

Large 大 writing 写 gives capital letters or elaborate numeral forms.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

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 寫; 写 is its simplified writing.

宀舄寫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

舄

舄xì寫xiě

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 寫 combines 宀 with 舄 for the sound; this note is about 寫, not the simplified 写.

Appears in