单据 (dān jù) — receipts, vouchers, or other documentary evidence in trade

Definition

A formal noun for paper records used in business — receipts, invoices, vouchers, and similar trade documents. The term emphasizes their role as official evidence rather than the financial transaction itself.

noun
receipts, vouchers, or other documentary evidence in trade
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 单据
    Qǐng bǎ suǒ yǒu de dān jù zhěng lǐ hǎo, jiāo gěi cái wù bù.
    Please organize all the receipts and hand them over to the finance department.
  • 单据
    Zhè bǐ jiāo yì de dān jù yǐ jīng quán bù guī dàng le.
    The documentary evidence for this transaction has all been filed.
  • 单据
    Bào xiāo shí xū yào tí gōng xiāng guān de dān jù.
    You need to provide the relevant receipts when requesting reimbursement.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

dānbill/list
evidence/voucher

单 and 据 both refer to bills or vouchers, so together they mean documentary evidence in trade.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Open 单 →

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
shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

据 uses 手 (hand) as one part and 居 to give the sound.

Open 据 →

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