下午 (xià wǔ) — afternoon | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Means the afternoon, roughly from after 中午 (noon) until evening. Pair it with 上午 to say 'morning' and 'afternoon'.

noun

afternoon

Measure word · 个

Easily confused

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.

下xiàbelow/later

The idea of '下' being after or below '午' noon gives the period after midday.

Characters in this word

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

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

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

The shape of 午 comes from a drawing of a pestle, a heavy tool used for pounding.

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