日历 (rì lì) — calendar | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

日历 is a calendar (the physical object: wall or desk calendar) used to check dates and schedule events. Pairs with siblings like 日期 (a specific date) and 阳历/阴历/农历 (calendar systems).

noun

calendar

Measure word · 张, 本

Examples

日历。
Wǒ mǎi le yì zhāng rì lì guà zài qiáng shàng.
I bought a calendar and hung it on the wall.
日历。
Zhè běn rì lì shàng yǒu měi gè yuè de jié rì.
This calendar has the holidays for each month.
日历。
Měi tiān wǒ zài rì lì shàng xiě xià yào zuò de shì.
Every day I write down what I need to do on the calendar.

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.

历lìcalendar

日 means day and 历 means calendar, so it is a calendar showing days.

Characters in this word

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

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 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

厤止歷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

厤

厤lì歷lì

Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Months & Dates

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