十二秒 (shí èr miǎo) — twelve seconds

Definition

noun
twelve seconds

Examples

  • 十二秒。
    Bǐ sài zhǐ yòng le shí èr miǎo.
    The competition only took twelve seconds.
  • 十二秒。
    Tā pǎo wán yì bǎi mǐ zhǐ yòng le shí èr miǎo.
    He finished the 100-meter dash in only twelve seconds.
  • 十二秒。
    Qǐng děng shí èr miǎo.
    Please wait twelve seconds.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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 →

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 →

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