数十万 (shù shí wàn) — hundreds of thousands (approximate large number)

Definition

数十万 means 'hundreds of thousands' — 数 (several) + 十万 (100,000). Used in formal writing and reports for large approximate figures, not casual speech.

numeral
hundreds of thousands (approximate large number)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 数十万。
    Měi nián yǒu shù shí wàn yóu kè lái zhè zuò chéng shì lǚ yóu.
    Hundreds of thousands of tourists come to this city every year.
  • 数十万。
    Zhè chǎng zì rán zāi hài zào chéng le shù shí wàn rén shòu zāi.
    This natural disaster affected hundreds of thousands of people.
  • 数十万。
    Gōng sī tóu rù le shù shí wàn zī jīn jìn xíng xīn xiàng mù yán fā.
    The company invested hundreds of thousands of funds in R&D for a new project.

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.

数shùseveral
十万hundred thousand
十shíten万wànten thousand
偏正Modifier + head

数 (several) sets the amount of 十万 (hundred thousand), giving several hundred-thousands.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 數; 数 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu數shù(r)
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 數 pairs 攴, the meaning part, with 婁, the sound part; the simplified 数 is a shorthand.

Open 数 →

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

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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