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千分之一 (qiān fēn zhī yī) — one thousandth (fraction)

Definition

noun
one thousandth (fraction)

Examples

  • 千分之一。
    Zhè ge shù zì shì qiān fēn zhī yī.
    This number is one thousandth.
  • 千分之一。
    Zhǐ yǒu qiān fēn zhī yī de rén néng tōng guò zhè ge kǎo shì.
    Only one thousandth of people can pass this exam.
  • 千分之一。
    Wù chā xiǎo yú qiān fēn zhī yī.
    The error is less than one thousandth.

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
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.

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

Open 分 →

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

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

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

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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