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买卖 (mǎi mai) — business; trade; transaction

Definition

买卖 refers to the act of buying and selling — the transaction itself, not a business as an entity. Compared to 交易 (more formal, often a single deal) and 生意 (a business/operation over time), 买卖 covers both sides of the exchange.

noun
businesstradetransaction
Measure word · 桩, 次

Examples

  • 买卖。
    Tā zuò mǎi mai zhuàn le bù shǎo qián.
    He made quite a bit of money from doing business.
  • 买卖。
    Zhè cì mǎi mai tán chéng le.
    This deal has been successfully negotiated.
  • 买卖。
    mǎi mai Shuāng fāng dōu tóng yì le.
    Both parties of the transaction have agreed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

买mǎibuy
卖màisell

买 means buy and 卖 means sell, so together they describe business transactions.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 買; 买 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 買, 网 is a net and 貝 is a money cowrie.

Open 买 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 賣; 卖 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 賣 came from an older shape that joined 出 (go out) with 買 (buy), which gives the sound. The simplified 卖 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 卖 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Business & Commerce5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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