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美金 (Měi jīn) — U.S. dollar

Definition

A colloquial unit referring to the U.S. dollar, used on the Chinese mainland. Distinguish from 美元 (the more formal/official term) and 美元 alongside 美元/刀 (slang, 'bucks') seen in spoken contexts.

noun
U.S. dollar

Examples

  • 美金。
    Wǒ qù yín háng huàn le yì xiē Měi jīn.
    I went to the bank to exchange some US dollars.
  • 美金。
    Zhè jiàn yī fu biāo jià yì bǎi Měi jīn.
    This piece of clothing is priced at one hundred US dollars.
  • 美金。
    Tā yòng Měi jīn mǎi le zhè liàng chē.
    He bought this car with US dollars.

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.

美měiAmerica
金jīnmoney

美 points to America and 金 to money, so it means American money.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

Open 金 →
Appears in
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