伍分 (wǔ fēn) — (monetary) five fen (cents) — formal written form; (time) five minutes — formal written form

Definition

伍分 is the formal written variant of 五分, used in legal, financial, or official documents (e.g. checks, contracts) rather than everyday speech.

noun
(monetary) five fen (cents) — formal written form(time) five minutes — formal written form
Easily confused

Examples

  • 伍分。
    Zhè zhāng zhī piào shàng xiě de jīn é shì wǔ fēn.
    The amount written on this check is five cents.
  • 伍分。
    Tā měi tiān zǎo shàng zhī shuì wǔ fēn.
    He only sleeps for five minutes every morning.
  • 伍分，。
    Hé tong shàng de shù zì shì wǔ fēn, bù néng gǎi.
    The number on the contract is five cents; it cannot be changed.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
五
五wǔ伍wǔ
Same sound today

伍 is written with 亻, a person, and 五, which gives the sound.

Open 伍 →

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

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

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