百亿 (bǎi yì) — ten billion | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

numeral

ten billion

Examples

百亿。
Zhè jiā gōng sī shì zhí chāo guò bǎi yì měi yuán.
This company's market value exceeds ten billion dollars.
GDP百亿。
Qù nián wǒ guó GDP tū pò le bǎi yì dà guān.
Last year our country's GDP broke through the ten billion mark.
百亿。
Tā juān chū le bǎi yì zī jīn yòng yú jiào yù.
He donated ten billion in funds for education.

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.

百bǎihundred

亿yìhundred million

'百' multiplies the unit '亿' to make ten billion.

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.

一白百

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

白

白bái百bǎi

Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

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 億; 亿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

意

意yì億yì

Same sound today

The traditional form 億 pairs 人 (person) with 意 for its sound; the simplified 亿 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original pieces.

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