秋 (qiū) — autumn; fall; year; period (literary); (surname)
Definition
秋 (qiū) is a bound literary/formal form of 秋天, the standard word for 'autumn.' It appears mainly in set phrases like 中秋节, 秋风, 秋收, and in the literary sense 'a year' (几秋 = many years).
bound form
autumnfallyearperiod (literary)(surname)
Examples
- 。qiū Tiān shì běi jīng zuì měi de jì jié.Autumn is the most beautiful season in Beijing.
- 秋。Měi nián zhōng qiū jié wǒ dōu huí jiā.Every year I go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
- 。Jīn nián qiū shōu hěn hǎo.This year's autumn harvest is good.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
Sound part声符shēngfú
𤒅
𤒅𤒅秋qiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The shape 秋 pairs 禾 (grain) with 𤒅, which gives the sound.
Appears in
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