八秒 (bā miǎo) — eight seconds

Definition

noun
eight seconds

Examples

  • 八秒。
    Tā pǎo le bā miǎo jiù tíng le.
    He ran for eight seconds and then stopped.
  • 八秒。
    Bǐ sài hái shèng bā miǎo jié shù.
    There are eight seconds left in the game.
  • 八秒。
    Zhè ge lù yīn zhǐ yǒu bā miǎo.
    This recording is only eight seconds.

Origin

Characters in this word

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 →

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
禾禾hécereal; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
少
少shǎo秒miǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 秒 pairs 禾, a cereal or grain plant, with 少 giving the sound.

Open 秒 →

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