世纪 (shì jì) — century

Definition

Examples

  • 世纪
    Wǒ men shēng huó zài èr shí yī shì jì.
    We live in the 21st century.
  • 世纪
    Zhè ge jiàn zhù yǒu jǐ bǎi nián de lì shǐ, bú shì jǐ gè shì jì.
    This building has a history of several hundred years, not several centuries.
  • 世纪
    Shàng ge shì jì zhōng guó de jì shù gǎi biàn le hěn duō.
    Chinese technology changed a lot in the last century.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

period

世 era and 纪 period combine to mean a long time span, 'century'.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →

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 紀; 纪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
silk
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

The traditional form 紀 pairs 糸, silk, with 己 as the sound part; the simplified 纪 is a shorthand.

Open 纪 →

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