九百万 (jiǔ bǎi wàn) — nine million

Definition

Just 'nine million' as a single number word — combine 九 (9) and 百万 (million). Used for large counts like populations, prices, and income.

numeral
nine million

Examples

  • 九百万。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu jiǔ bǎi wàn rén kǒu.
    This city has a population of nine million.
  • 九百万。
    Tā huā le jiǔ bǎi wàn mǎi le yí tào fáng zi.
    He spent nine million to buy a house.
  • 九百万。
    Gōng sī de nián shōu rù dá dào le jiǔ bǎi wàn.
    The company's annual revenue reached nine million.

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.

九百nine hundred
九jiǔnine百bǎihundred
偏正Modifier + head
万wànten thousand

九百 means nine hundred and 万 means ten thousand; multiplied together, they give nine million.

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.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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