千伏 (qiān fú) — kilovolt

Definition

A unit of voltage: 1,000 volts (千 = thousand). Always read together with a number, as in 220千伏.

classifier
kilovolt

Examples

  • 220千伏。
    Zhè tiáo gāo yā xiàn shì 220 qiān fú de.
    This high-voltage line is 220 kilovolts.
  • 110千伏220千伏。
    Biàn diàn zhàn de diàn yā cóng 110 qiān fú shēng dào le 220 qiān fú.
    The voltage at the substation was stepped up from 110 kilovolts to 220 kilovolts.
  • 10千伏。
    Zhè ge biàn yā qì néng chéng shòu 10 qiān fú de diàn yā.
    This transformer can withstand a voltage of 10 kilovolts.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

千qiānthousand
伏fúvolt

千 gives a thousand and 伏 gives volts, so it means a thousand volts.

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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

伏 combines 人 (person) and 犬 (dog), as a dog beside a person or a person taking a dog's low posture, to show lying prostrate.

Open 伏 →

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