第五十 (dì wǔ shí) — fiftieth

Definition

Ordinal form of the number 50, meaning 'fiftieth' — the form used for ordering items in a sequence (e.g., the 50th page, 50th place) rather than counting.

numeral
fiftieth

Examples

  • ？第五十。
    Zhè shì nǐ dì jǐ cì lái zhōng guó? dì wǔ shí cì.
    How many times have you come to China? The fiftieth time.
  • ，第五十。
    Tā pǎo wán le mǎ lā sōng, dé le dì wǔ shí míng.
    He finished the marathon and got fiftieth place.
  • 第五十，。
    Fān kāi shū de dì wǔ shí yè, dá àn jiù zài nà lǐ.
    Turn to the fiftieth page of the book — the answer is right there.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
前缀qiánzhuìPrefix

A fixed syllable in front that adds a shade of meaning but carries none of its own.

第dìordinal
五十fifty
五wǔfive十shíten
偏正Modifier + head

第 places 五 and 十, 'five ten', in order, giving 'fiftieth'.

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 →

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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 →

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