百分之四 (bǎi fēn zhī sì) — four percent

Definition

numeral

four percent

百分之四。
Zhè cì kǎo shì zhǐ yǒu bǎi fēn zhī sì de xué shēng jí gé.
Only four percent of the students passed this exam.
百分之四，。
Nián lì lǜ shì bǎi fēn zhī sì, bú suàn gāo.
The annual interest rate is four percent, which is not high.
百分之四。
bǎi fēn zhī sì De rén kǒu shēng huó zài pín kùn xiàn yǐ xià.
Four percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

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.

一白百

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

白

Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

八刀分

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

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

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.