Chinese character 次 second, times
- second
- times, order
- inferior
- remain
- stand.
HSK – 2
STROKES – 6
RADICAL – 冫
Elements —- two 二 + open mouth 欠. Phonetic series 次.
This is two 二 breaths (or two sneezes) with an open mouth 欠, emphasizing the second one. Second > secondary > times > order > arrange > arrange hair (of woman). It is also the modern form of an OBC that showed a military encampment > place > remain > stand.
其次 qícì – next; second.
次序 cìxù – order, sequence (order + order)
Two breaths to mean second, for the second breath. First and second give the idea of counting > order. It also give the meaning of times, once, twice….
From second we have also the idea of something of second category, then inferior. Something of inferior category remains in a place, nobody want to take it. From remain > stand (a person who remains). Stand is rarely used but important to understand other characters of this family.
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