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面额 (miàn é) — denomination (of banknotes, coins, or financial instruments); (formal or literary) forehead

Definition

In modern usage, 面额 means the denomination of money or bonds (e.g. a 100-yuan bill). The 'forehead' sense is archaic and essentially unused today — use 额头 for that.

noun
denomination (of banknotes, coins, or financial instruments)(formal or literary) forehead

Examples

  • 面额。
    Zhè zhāng zhǐ bì de miàn é shì wǔ shí yuán.
    The denomination of this banknote is fifty yuan.
  • 面额。
    Gōng sī fā xíng le bù tóng miàn é de zhài quàn.
    The company issued bonds of different denominations.
  • 面额。
    Tā yòng shǒu qīng qīng cā le cā miàn é shàng de hàn.
    He gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand.

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.

面miànface
额éamount

The face of a note and its amount combine to mean denomination.

Characters in this word

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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 額; 额 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
客
客kè額é
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 額 combines 頁 (head), which points to the meaning, with 客, which gives the sound. The simplified 额 is a later abbreviation.

Open 额 →
Appears in
Money & Currency

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