noun #20,959

Meanings

  1. 1 unit of length (1/30 meter); centimeter
  2. 2 unit of currency (1/1000 yuan)

Examples

HSK 4
Yī límǐ děngyú shí háomǐ.
One centimeter equals ten millimeters.
HSK 6
厘清事实重要
Líqīng shìshí hěn zhòngyào.
Clarifying the facts is important.

Tips

usage
Most commonly seen in 厘米 (centimeter). Also used in 厘清 (to clarify).

Components

radical
chǎng
cliff; shelter
Cliff radical wrapping the top-left - a sheltering overhang of rock. The indexing element. The radical is structural rather than semantic here: is a simplified replacement for traditional , and the modern shape stacks the inner under the overhang for a compact silhouette. Same radical- graph-family includes (thick), (origin), (mansion).
phonetic
village; inside; Chinese mile
Inside supplies the sound - lǐ drifting to lí through tone shift. itself depicts a field () above earth (), the seed for 'village, neighbourhood, inner'. Helpfully, was also a classical unit of distance - and is a tiny unit of measurement (a hundredth, a thousandth). The phonetic carries both reading and a faint measurement flavour.

Stroke Order