第二十一 (dì èr shí yī) — twenty-first (ordinal number)

Definition

numeral
twenty-first (ordinal number)

Examples

  • 第二十一。
    Tā kǎo le dì èr shí yī míng.
    He got twenty-first place.
  • 第二十一。
    Zhè shì tā de dì èr shí yī gè shēng rì.
    This is his twenty-first birthday.
  • 第二十一。
    Zhè běn shū de dì èr shí yī zhāng hěn yǒu qù.
    The twenty-first chapter of this book is very interesting.

Origin

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
弟
弟dì第dì
Same sound today

第 shows 𥫗, the bamboo strips once used for writing and sorting, with 弟 giving the sound.

Open 第 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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