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大钱 (dà qián) — large sum of money; old Chinese coin (historical)

Definition

Literally "big money," 大钱 in modern usage means a large sum of money; historically it also refers to the old round Chinese coins with square holes. Context — and especially 古代 in the examples — tells you which sense is meant.

noun
large sum of moneyold Chinese coin (historical)

Examples

  • 大钱。
    Tā zuò shēng yi zhuàn le yí dà bǐ dà qián.
    He made a large sum of money from his business.
  • 大钱。
    Zhè xiē gǔ dài dà qián zài bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn chū.
    These ancient coins are on display in the museum.
  • ，大钱。
    Wèi le mǎi zhè liàng chē, tā huā le hěn duō dà qián.
    He spent a lot of money to buy this car.

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.

大dàbig
钱qiánmoney

大 means big, and 钱 means money, so 大钱 is a big amount of money.

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.

Open 大 →

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 錢; 钱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal; gold; money
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān錢qián
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 錢 combines 金, meaning metal or money, with 戔, which gives the sound; the simplified 钱 is a later shorthand.

Open 钱 →
Appears in
Money & Currency

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