Chinese

比例

/pi²¹⁴⁻²¹ li⁵¹/
ratio; proportion
  • HSK 3
  • TOCFL 6

Etymology graph

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Origin

Original sense attestable in Classical Chinese. The mathematics sense is believed to have been coined by Matteo Ricci.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • characterChinese比 “to compare; to contrast; to have a contest”
    • soundChinese匕 “a kind of spoon in ancient China”
  • characterChinese例 “example; instance”
    • meaningChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
    • soundChinese列 “to tear apart; to break up; to separate; to split”
      • ideaChinese歹 “bone remnants”
      • soundChinese𡿪
      • ideaChinese刀 “knife; blade (Classifier: 把 m c g h j mb md w x; 張／张 c h; 叢／丛 mn; 支 mn mn-t)”

Sources