账 (zhàng) — account (financial record); bill (statement of money owed); debt (liability)
Definition
账 (zhàng) is the written/banking word for a financial account, bill, or debt — broader and more formal than the everyday 钱 (money) or specific terms like 账单 (a bill/invoice). It commonly pairs with measure word 本 for ledgers and accounts.
noun
account (financial record)bill (statement of money owed)debt (liability)
Measure word · 本
Examples
- 账，。Wǒ chá le yí xià zhàng, fā xiàn duō le yì bǐ qián.I checked the account and found an extra sum of money.
- 账。Zhè ge yuè de zhàng yǐ jīng jì chū qù le.This month's bill has already been sent out.
- 账。Tā hái qiàn zhe gōng sī de zhàng.He still owes debts to the company.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 賬; 账 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
長
長cháng賬
Same sound today
In the traditional form 賬, 貝 is a shell and 長 is used for the sound; the simplified 账 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.
Appears in
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