玖 (jiǔ) — nine (formal numeral, used in financial documents to prevent fraud)

Definition

Formal written form of 九, used in banking and contracts to prevent fraud. Lowercase digits 9 are too easy to alter, so Chinese documents write the number in this big-character form.

numeral
nine (formal numeral, used in financial documents to prevent fraud)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 玖。
    Zhè zhāng zhī piào shàng de jīn é shì jiǔ bǎi yuán.
    The amount on this check is 900 yuan.
  • 玖。
    Hé tong shàng xiě de zǒng jīn é shì jiǔ wàn yuán.
    The total amount written in the contract is 90,000 yuan.
  • 玖。
    Fā piào shàng zhù míng de shì jiǔ qiān yuán.
    The invoice states 9,000 yuan.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
玉玉yù
Sound part声符shēngfú
久
久jiǔ玖jiǔ
Same sound today

The shape 玖 combines 玉 (jade), a meaning part, with 久, a sound part.

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