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年终 (nián zhōng) — year-end; end of the year

Definition

年终 (nián zhōng) means 'year-end' in formal/work contexts like 年终报告 (year-end report). 年底 is the more colloquial 'end of the year'; 期末 refers to end of a school term.

noun
year-endend of the year

Examples

  • 年终，。
    nián zhōng De shí hou, gōng sī huì gěi wǒ men fā hóng bāo.
    At the end of the year, the company gives us red envelopes.
  • 年终。
    nián zhōng Bào gào yào zài xià zhōu wǔ zhī qián jiāo.
    The year-end report must be submitted before next Friday.
  • 年终。
    Dà jiā dōu zài wèi nián zhōng de wǎn huì zuò zhǔn bèi.
    Everyone is preparing for the year-end party.

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.

年niányear
终zhōngend

年 says which period, and 终 gives the idea of its end.

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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 終; 终 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
冬
冬dōng終zhōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 終 pairs 糸 (a cord) with 冬 as a sound part; the simplified 终 is a later shorthand. An older form showed a knot at the end of a cord.

Open 终 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Months & Dates

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