兆 (zhào) — million (10⁶), mega-

Definition

At HSK 7, 兆 functions as a SI prefix meaning 'mega-' (10⁶) in technical contexts like megabytes, megawatts, megatons. It is unrelated to the classical sense 'omen/sign' that shares the same spelling.

numeral
million (10⁶)mega-
Easily confused

Examples

  • 兆。
    Zhè ge yìng pán de róng liàng shì wǔ bǎi zhào zì jié.
    The capacity of this hard drive is 500 megabytes.
  • 。
    Zhè ge fā diàn chǎng de fā diàn néng lì shì sān bǎi zhào wǎ.
    The power generation capacity of this power plant is 300 megawatts.
  • 兆TNT。
    Dì zhèn shì fàng de néng liàng dá dào jǐ shí zhào dūn TNT.
    The energy released by the earthquake reached tens of megatons of TNT.

Origin

Pictograph
六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíng

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

The form 兆 shows two 人 (person) parts on either side of a 水 (water) part: two people fleeing with their backs to a flood.

Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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