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赤字 (chì zì) — (financial) deficit; red letter (in accounting; lit. ‘red character’)

Definition

赤字 is a formal written term for a financial deficit (e.g. 财政赤字, budget deficit), literally 'red figures' in a ledger. Use it over 亏 or 亏损 for noun-style, official contexts; 缺口 is a more general 'shortfall or gap'.

noun
(financial) deficitred letter (in accounting; lit. ‘red character’)

Examples

  • 赤字。
    Zhèng fǔ nǔ lì jiǎn shǎo cái zhèng chì zì.
    The government is working to reduce the fiscal deficit.
  • 赤字。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī de chì zì yǐ jīng lián xù sān nián kuò dà.
    This company's deficit has been widening for three consecutive years.
  • 赤字，。
    Zhàng běn shàng chū xiàn le chì zì, xū yào tiáo zhěng zhī chū.
    A red figure appeared in the ledger; expenses need to be adjusted.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

赤chìred
字zìcharacter

赤 (red) plus 字 (character) gives a red mark used for negative amounts in accounts.

Characters in this word

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

赤 is a stylized form showing 大 (a person) and 火 (fire), depicting a person by a fire.

Open 赤 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
子
子zǐ字zì
Same sound today

字 pairs 宀 (roof) with 子 (child); 子 gives the sound, while 宀 relates to the meaning.

Open 字 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Finance & Banking

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