九百 (jiǔ bǎi) — nine hundred | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

numeral

nine hundred

Examples

九百。
Zhè běn shū mài jiǔ bǎi kuài qián.
This book sells for nine hundred yuan.
九百。
Gōng sī yǒu jiǔ bǎi míng yuán gōng.
The company has nine hundred employees.
九百。
Tā de shǒu jī hào zuì hòu sān wèi shì jiǔ bǎi.
The last three digits of his phone number are nine hundred.

Origin

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.

九jiǔnine

百bǎihundred

九 'nine' before 百 'hundred' gives nine hundred.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

一白百

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 →

Appears in