第五十九 (dì wǔ shí jiǔ) — fifty-ninth

Definition

numeral
fifty-ninth

Examples

  • 第五十九。
    Tā zhù zài dì wǔ shí jiǔ céng.
    He lives on the fifty-ninth floor.
  • 第五十九。
    Zhè shì tā dì wǔ shí jiǔ cì cān jiā bǐ sài.
    This is her fifty-ninth time participating in the competition.
  • 第五十九。
    dì wǔ shí jiǔ Yè yǒu zhòng yào de tú biǎo.
    There is an important chart on page fifty-nine.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
前缀qiánzhuìPrefix

A fixed syllable in front that adds a shade of meaning but carries none of its own.

第dìordinal
五十九fifty-nine
五wǔfive十shíten九jiǔnine

The 第 'ordinal' part combines with 五, 十, 九 to give 'fifty-ninth'.

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
弟
弟dì第dì
Same sound today

第 shows 𥫗, the bamboo strips once used for writing and sorting, with 弟 giving the sound.

Open 第 →

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

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.

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

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