Chinese word

万

Pronunciation

Pinyinwàn

Meaning

  • numberten thousand

Example

这本书卖了十万册。zhè běn shū mài le shí wàn cè

This book sold 100,000 copies.

Illustration for 万 (ten thousand)

More examples

我买了那辆车，花了八万块钱。wǒ mǎi le nà liàng chē huā le bā wàn kuài qián

I bought that car and paid 80,000 yuan for it.

Core concept

A large-number marker that turns a count into a bundle of ten thousand and often gives a quick sense of a huge amount.

Common phrases

  • 一万yí wàn

    ten thousand

  • 两万liǎng wàn

    twenty thousand

  • 几万jǐ wàn

    tens of thousands

Similar words

十shí: A numeral meaning ten.
百bǎi: A numeral meaning one hundred.
千qiān: A numeral meaning one thousand.

Definition in Chinese

表示一万（10000）的数词，也可泛指很多；作数词时可与量词连用，如一万、两万，在口语中也用来表示大约的数量。biǎo shì yí wàn 10000 de shù cí yě kě fàn zhǐ hěn duō zuò shù cí shí kě yǔ liàng cí lián yòng rú yí wàn liǎng wàn zài kóu yǔ zhōng yě yòng lái biǎo shì dà yuē de shù liàng

Word origin

万 (wàn, "ten thousand") is the simplified form of traditional 萬 (wàn, "ten thousand"), which began as a picture of a scorpion and was later used to represent the number ten thousand.

Usage tips

  • For large prices, populations, and online counts, 万 (wàn, "ten thousand") often acts as a unit, so 3万 means 30,000 rather than 3,000.

Word lists with this word