一百五 (yì bǎi wǔ) — 150 (colloquial short form of 一百五十)

Definition

Colloquial short form of 一百五十 ('150'), used in speech when context makes 十 clear (prices, quantities). It is not a written or formal spelling.

numeral
150 (colloquial short form of 一百五十)

Examples

  • 一百五。
    Zhè jiàn yī fu yì bǎi wǔ kuài qián.
    This piece of clothing costs 150 yuan.
  • 一百五。
    Wǒ men bān yǒu yì bǎi wǔ gè xué shēng.
    Our class has 150 students.
  • 一百五。
    Tā mǎi le yì bǎi wǔ jīn píng guǒ.
    He bought 150 jin of apples.

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 →

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
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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