钞票 (chāo piào) — paper money, banknote, bill | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

钞票 (chāopiào) is the colloquial word for paper money / banknote. It is more everyday than the written 纸币, which refers to paper currency as a medium of exchange; contrast 现金 (cash in general) and 硬币 (coin).

noun

paper moneybanknotebill

Measure word · 张, 扎

Examples

钞票。
Tā cóng qián bāo lǐ ná chū yì zhāng chāo piào.
He took a banknote out of his wallet.
钞票。
Tā ná le yì zhā chāo piào qù yín háng cún le.
He took a stack of bills to the bank and deposited them.
钞票，。
Xiàn zài hěn duō rén bú yòng chāo piào, dōu yòng shǒu jī zhī fù.
Nowadays many people don't use cash; they all use mobile payments.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

钞chāopaper money

钞票 pairs 钞 and 票, both associated with paper money or notes, to mean banknotes.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鈔; 钞 is its simplified writing.

金少鈔

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

少

少shǎo鈔chāo

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 鈔 has 金 as the meaning part and 少 for the sound.

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

火火huǒfire
𢍱𢍱𢍱to rise high

票 combines 火 (fire) and 𢍱 (to rise high), originally representing sparks rising up.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Money & Currency

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