三点十五 (sān diǎn shí wǔ) — three fifteen (time of day)

Definition

numeral
three fifteen (time of day)

Examples

  • 三点十五，。
    Xiàn zài sān diǎn shí wǔ le, wǒ men gāi chū fā le.
    It's three fifteen now, we should set off.
  • 三点十五，。
    Huì yì cóng sān diǎn shí wǔ kāi shǐ, bié chí dào.
    The meeting starts at three fifteen, don't be late.
  • 三点十五。
    Tā měi tiān xià wǔ sān diǎn shí wǔ hē kā fēi.
    He drinks coffee every day at three fifteen in the afternoon.

Origin

Characters in this word

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 →

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 點; 点 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
黑黑hēiblack
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn點diǎn(r)
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 點 pairs 黑 (black) with 占 for its sound; the simplified 点 is a later abbreviation.

Open 点 →

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

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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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