期 (qī): period; stage; phase

Meanings

1 period; stage; phase
2 issue (of a publication); term; semester
3 to expect; to hope (literary)

Characters

期

qī

period; phase; to expect; issue (of a magazine)

Contains 其 (its) + 月 (moon) — the moon marks periods of time.

Examples

这本杂志的最新一期出来了。

Zhè běn zázhì de zuìxīn yì qī chūlái le.

The latest issue of this magazine is out.

这个学期我要好好学习。

Zhè gè xuéqī wǒ yào hǎohǎo xuéxí.

I will study hard this semester.

项目进入了第二期。

Xiàngmù jìnrù le dì'èr qī.

The project has entered its second phase.

Tips

usage

期 is used as a measure word for issues/installments: 第一期 (first issue), and as a suffix in time words: 学期 (semester), 日期 (date), 星期 (week), 长期 (long-term), 短期 (short-term).

usage

期待 (qīdài) means 'to look forward to' and 期望 (qīwàng) means 'to hope/expect' — both from the meaning of 期 as 'to expect.'

Components

radical

月 yuè

moon; month

Right indexing moon radical — the moon was the original calendar, marking periods by its phases. A 月 is a month, and 期 (a fixed period) takes its name from the same celestial reckoning. This is the moon 月, not the flesh variant used in body-part characters; here it sits proudly on the right.

phonetic

其 qí

its; that (here phonetic)

Left 其 supplies the sound — qí → qī, only tone differs. Same phonetic body in 棋 (chess), 旗 (flag), 欺 (deceive) — a tightly clustered qí / qī family. The 'its / that' meaning of 其 doesn't carry; pure phonetic shell.