万

萬
wàn
HSK 3
#322 most
frequent character
ten thousand, a great number
noun

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

万 first showed a sharp knife blade and meant to cut or injure. The number 10,000 was borrowed only for the sound, not from the picture. From 'ten thousand' came the sense 'all'.

Drawn as: sharp knife blade

万 as a component in other characters

sound4 characters
厉迈虿劢
picture2 characters
趸疠

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Example Sentences

这个城市的人口有一万。
zhègè chéngshì de rénkǒu yǒu yīwàn 。
The population of this city is ten thousand.
我买了十万本书。
wǒ mǎi le shíwàn běn shū 。
I bought one hundred thousand books.
他的财富已经超过了一万。
tāde cáifù yǐjīng chāoguò le yīwàn 。
His wealth has already surpassed ten thousand.

Grammar Points

HSK 2
Using "ji" to mean "several"
HSK 3
Big numbers in Chinese
HSK 4
Expressing "to make certain" with "qianwan"

Same Characters, Different Readings

万mò
used in 万俟[Mo4 qi2]

Words with similar meanings

十千shíqiān
ten thousand
More literal numerical representation in terms of thousands.
许多xǔduō
many
A broader term signifying a large quantity but not specifically 'ten thousand'.

Words Starting With 万

万一wàn yī
just in case; if by any chance; contingency
万分wàn fēn
very much; extremely; one ten thousandth part

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Public Lists with 万

HSK 3
All words for the HSK 3 test
Measure Words
Commonly used measure words (个, 张, 本, etc.) across various contexts.
Numbers & Counting
Numerals, counting words, and measure words frequently used with numbers.