下旬 (xià xún) — last ten days of a month (21st to month-end)

Definition

下旬 is the last third of a month (the 21st to month's end), paired with 上旬 (1st–10th) and 中旬 (11th–20th).

noun

last ten days of a month (21st to month-end)

Easily confused

下旬。
Wǒ men xià xún zài kāi huì ba.
Let's have the meeting in the last ten days of the month.
下旬。
Xià ge yuè xià xún wǒ yào qù chū chāi.
I'm going on a business trip in the last ten days of next month.
下旬。
xià xún De tiān qì kāi shǐ biàn lěng le.
The weather starts getting cold in the last ten days of the month.

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.

旬xúnten-day period

The '下' later part of a '旬' ten-day period names the last ten days of a month.

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.

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

日日rìsun; day

Sound part声符shēngfú

螾

螾yǐn旬xún

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form of 旬 paired 日, the sun/day, with 螾, which gave the sound.

Appears in