bàng
noun #5,587

Measure Word

五十 bàng

Meanings

  1. 1 pound (currency)
  2. 2 pound (unit of weight)

Examples

HSK 2
Zhè jiàn yīfu huā le wǔshí bàng.
This piece of clothing cost fifty pounds.
HSK 6
Yīngbàng zuìjìn diē le bùshǎo.
The British pound has dropped quite a bit recently.

Tips

usage
on its own usually refers to the British pound (英镑). For weight, the more common term is .

Components

radical
jīn
metal (radical form of 金)
Left-side metal radical - the indexing radical, simplified left-form of . Names what a pound () historically was: a coined metal currency. Same family of money/metal chars: (silver), (money), (copper), (cast), (inscribe).
phonetic
páng
side; beside
Right-side supplies the sound - páng shifting to bàng in , a clean p/b alternation typical of this phonetic series. Pure phonetic borrowing; 's 'side' meaning has no semantic link to currency. Same phonetic family: (lean on), (pound/scale, also 'bàng'), (slander).

Stroke Order

bàng