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小钱 (xiǎo qián) — tip; gratuity; small amount of money; small change; (historical) small coin from the Qing dynasty

Definition

小钱 covers two distinct senses: 'small change / a small amount of money' (as in 别看不起小钱) and 'a tip / gratuity' (as in 给服务员小钱). The historical Qing-dynasty coin sense is a different, older meaning.

noun
tipgratuitysmall amount of moneysmall change(historical) small coin from the Qing dynasty
Measure word · 笔

Examples

  • ，小钱。
    Fú wù yuán de fú wù hěn hǎo, wǒ gěi le tā yì xiē xiǎo qián.
    The waiter's service was good, so I gave her a tip.
  • 小钱，。
    Bié kàn bù qǐ xiǎo qián, jī shǎo chéng duō ma.
    Don't look down on small amounts of money — many a little makes a mickle.
  • 小钱。
    Zhè méi qīng cháo de xiǎo qián fēi cháng yǒu shōu cáng jià zhí.
    This Qing dynasty small coin has great collectible value.

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.

小xiǎosmall
钱qiánmoney

小 gives small, and 钱 gives money, so it means a small amount of money.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 錢; 钱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal; gold; money
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān錢qián
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 錢 combines 金, meaning metal or money, with 戔, which gives the sound; the simplified 钱 is a later shorthand.

Open 钱 →
Appears in
Money & Currency

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