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第十七 (dì shí qī) — seventeenth

Definition

numeral
seventeenth

Examples

  • 第十七。
    Qǐng fān dào dì shí qī yè.
    Please turn to page seventeen.
  • 第十七。
    Tā zài bǐ sài zhōng huò dé le dì shí qī míng.
    He won seventeenth place in the competition.
  • 第十七。
    Zhè běn shū de dì shí qī zhāng hěn yǒu yì si.
    The seventeenth chapter of this book is very interesting.

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dìorder
十七seventeen
十shíten七qīseven
联合Coordinate

第 (order) and 十七 (seventeen) together mean the seventeenth.

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.

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 →

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

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

Open 七 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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