期终 (qī zhōng) — end of a period, semester, or quarter

Definition

noun
end of a periodsemesteror quarter
Easily confused

Examples

  • 期终。
    qī zhōng Kǎo shì de chéng jì huì zài xià zhōu gōng bù.
    The results of the final exam will be announced next week.
  • 期终。
    Gōng sī měi gè qī zhōng dōu yào zuò cái wù zǒng jié.
    The company does a financial summary at the end of each quarter.
  • 期终。
    Zhè ge qī zhōng de kè chéng yǐ jīng quán bù jié shù le.
    All the courses for this period have already ended.

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.

期qīperiod
终zhōngend

period and end combine to mean the final point of a term.

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →

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 →

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