一万三 (yí wàn sān) — (colloquial) 13,000 (abbreviation of 一万三千)

Definition

Spoken short form of 一万三千 (13,000) — three syllables instead of five, used in casual speech and writing. Means thirteen thousand, not one-thousand-three.

numeral
(colloquial) 13,000 (abbreviation of 一万三千)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 一万三，。
    Zhè tái chē zhǐ yào yí wàn sān, hěn huá suàn.
    This car only costs 13,000 — it's a great deal.
  • 一万三。
    Tā yí gè yuè gōng zī chà bu duō yí wàn sān.
    His monthly salary is about 13,000.
  • 一万三。
    Wǒ mǎi zhè tào jiā jù huā le yí wàn sān.
    I spent 13,000 on this set of furniture.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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