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期货 (qī huò) — futures (financial contracts for delivery of a commodity or asset at a future date)

Definition

Financial term for futures — contracts to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date, used in trading and hedging. Pairs with 现货 (spot/cash trading) and 市场, 交易, 合约 in financial contexts.

noun
futures (financial contracts for delivery of a commodity or asset at a future date)

Examples

  • 期货。
    Tā zuì jìn kāi shǐ zuò qī huò jiāo yì.
    He recently started trading futures.
  • 期货，。
    qī huò Shì chǎng fēng xiǎn hěn dà, tóu zī zhě xū yào jǐn shèn.
    The futures market is very risky; investors need to be cautious.
  • 期货。
    Hěn duō nóng mín yòng qī huò lái duì chōng jià gé bō dòng de fēng xiǎn.
    Many farmers use futures to hedge against price fluctuations.

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.

期qītime/future date
货huògoods

期 gives the time or future date, and 货 gives the goods, so 期货 names goods whose delivery is set by a date.

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →

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 貨; 货 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell, money
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà貨huò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貨 pairs 化 (sound) with 貝 (shell, money) to write valuable goods; the simplified 货 is a shorthand.

Open 货 →
Appears in
Finance & Banking

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