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千禧 (qiān xǐ) — millennium

Definition

adjective
millennium

Examples

  • 千禧。
    qiān xǐ Nián shì yí gè zhòng yào de lì shǐ jié diǎn.
    The millennium is an important historical milestone.
  • 千禧，。
    Wèi le jì niàn qiān xǐ, tā men jǔ bàn le yì chǎng yīn yuè huì.
    To commemorate the millennium, they held a concert.
  • 千禧。
    qiān xǐ De xiàng zhēng yì yì zài quán shì jiè dōu hěn xiāng sì.
    The symbolic meaning of the millennium is very similar worldwide.

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
禧xǐauspicious joy

千 thousand and 禧 auspicious joy combine to denote a thousand-year milestone.

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 →

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
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
喜
喜xǐ禧xǐ
Same sound today

禧 pairs 示, the meaning part, with 喜, the sound part.

Appears in
Months & Dates

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