平摊 (píng tān) — to share (costs, expenses, responsibilities) equally

Definition

verb
to share (costs, expenses, responsibilities) equally

Examples

  • 平摊。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng de fèi yòng wǒ men píng tān.
    We share the costs of this trip equally.
  • 平摊。
    Tā men jué dìng píng tān jiā wù.
    They decided to share household chores equally.
  • 。
    Wǔ rén píng tān le wǎn cān zhàng dān.
    The five people shared the dinner bill equally.

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.

平píngeven
摊tānspread

平 means even and 摊 means spread or apportion, giving sharing equally.

Characters in this word

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

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

Open 平 →

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 攤; 摊 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
難
難nán攤tān
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 攤 uses 手 (hand) and 難 for sound.

Open 摊 →

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