TongTong
Sign in

亿万 (yì wàn) — hundreds of millions; billions (hyperbolic, extremely large number)

Definition

Literally 'hundreds of millions,' used as a hyperbolic numeral for an incomprehensibly huge amount of money or people — stronger and more literary than 亿 alone.

numeral
hundreds of millionsbillions (hyperbolic, extremely large number)

Examples

  • 亿万。
    Tā shì yí wèi yì wàn fù wēng.
    He is a billionaire.
  • 亿万。
    Zhè cì zhí bō xī yǐn le yì wàn guān zhòng.
    This live broadcast attracted hundreds of millions of viewers.
  • 亿万。
    yì wàn Nián qián dì qiú shàng hái méi yǒu rén lèi.
    Billions of years ago, there were no humans on Earth.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

亿yìhundred million
万wànten thousand

Hundred million and ten thousand together express a huge number.

Characters in this word

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 億; 亿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
意
意yì億yì
Same sound today

The traditional form 億 pairs 人 (person) with 意 for its sound; the simplified 亿 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 亿 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Numbers & Counting

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.