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第十四 (dì shí sì) — fourteenth (ordinal number)

Definition

numeral
fourteenth (ordinal number)

Examples

  • 第十四。
    Tā zài bǐ sài zhōng huò dé le dì shí sì míng.
    He got fourteenth place in the competition.
  • 第十四。
    Zhè bù fen shì dì shí sì zhāng.
    This part is Chapter 14.
  • 第十四。
    Zhè shì dì shí sì cì lái běi jīng.
    This is the fourteenth time coming to Beijing.

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dìsequence
十四fourteen
十shíten四sìfour
联合Coordinate

第 adds the sequence sense, and 十 plus 四 give fourteen.

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 →

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 form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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