千 qiān — thousand · English

千

qiān

thousand

At a glance · 千

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

甲骨文、金文于「人」字中部加一横或一撇，指事表示众多，即「千」。隶楷定型为「千」。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

「千」为十进制大数，引申为极多。

Structure

指事字，在「人」形上加标记表示数目一千。

At a glance

Pinyinqiān

Radical十

Strokes3

UnicodeU+5343

Character type指事

Theme数术

Six languages, one character

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English thousand The number one thousand; indicates a great multitude.

Français mille Le nombre mille; indique une grande quantité.

Español mil El número mil; indica una gran multitud.

العربية ألف العدد ألف؛ يدل على الكثرة.

Русский тысяча Число тысяча; указывает на множество.

Common words

千qiānthousand
千万qiān wànten million

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