二八 (èr bā) — sixteen (literary, referring to a girl's age, indicating youth and beauty)

Definition

Literary way of saying 'sixteen' — almost always about a girl's age, suggesting youth and beauty (e.g. 二八佳人).

numeral
sixteen (literary, referring to a girl's age, indicating youth and beauty)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 二八。
    Tā shì yí wèi èr bā jiā rén.
    She is a beautiful girl of sixteen.
  • 二八。
    Zhè wèi èr bā shào nǚ fēi cháng měi lì.
    This sixteen-year-old girl is very beautiful.
  • 二八。
    Gǔ dài de shī rén cháng zàn měi èr bā jiā rén.
    Ancient poets often praised the beauty of sixteen-year-old girls.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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