Skip to main content

萬: ten thousand

By August 19, 2014January 16th, 2017Chinese Word, Japanese Word, Language-Learning, Music
 

萬 [万] wàn

numeral
: ten thousand; a great number

Kun Reading
萬: archaic kanji

万 | よろず yorozu

numeric
: 10,000; ten thousand
: myriad
: (Adverbial noun) everything; all
: (Archaism) various

On Reading

万 | まん man

numeric
: 10,000; ten thousand
: myriad

万 | ばん ban

adverb | prefix
: many; all

 Usage:

萬[万]一 wan4yi1: just in case; if by any chance; contingency
[万一 | まんいち manichi: emergency; unlikely event
: by some chance; by some possibility]
萬[万]分 wan4fen1: very much; extremely; one ten thousandth part
[万分 | まんぶん manbun]
萬歲[万岁] wan4sui4: Long live (the king, the revolution etc)!; Your Majesty; His Majesty
[万歲 | ばんざい banzai: crying “banzai” (or raising one’s hands in the banzai gesture)
: something worthy of celebration
: giving up
: (Archaism) eternal life (and prosperity); (Interjection) banzai (a celebratory cheer); hooray]
萬萬[万万] wan4wan4: absolutely; wholly
[万万 | ばんばん banban: very much; fully
: never (with negative verb)]

万万一 | ばんばんいち banban ichi OR まんまんいち man man ichi: by any chance; ten thousand to one
万万歳 | ばんばんざい banbanzai: matter for great congratulation

萬[万]全 wan4quan2: absolutely safe; surefire; thorough
[万全 | ばんぜん banzen: perfection; flawlessness]
萬[万]里 wan4li3: far away; thousands of miles
[万里 | ばんり banri: thousands of miles]
萬事達 [万事达]wan4 shi4 da2: Mastercard
萬事通 wan4 shi4 tong1: jack-of-all-trades; know-it-all

萬金油 [万金油] wan4 jin1 you2: Tiger Balm (medicine); jack of all trades (and master of none)

萬維網 [万维网] wan4 wei2 wang3: World Wide Web
十萬[万] shi2wan4: hundred thousand
[十万 | じゅうまん juuman]
千萬[万] qian1wan4: ten million; countless; many; one must by all means
[千万 | せんばん senban OR ちよろず chiyorozu: exceedingly; very many; very much; indeed; a great many
OR せんまん seaman: 10,000,000; ten million; myriad]
億萬[亿万] yi4wan4: millions and millions
[億万 | おくまん okuman]
百萬 [万] bai3wan4: millions
[百万 | ひゃくまん hyakuman: a million, many]
萬里長城 [万里长城] wan4li3 chang2cheng2: the Great Wall



Japanese expression / idiom / proverb
万愚節 | ばんぐせつ bangu setsu: April Fool’s Day

何万年 | なんまんねん nan mannen: tens of thousands of years

万事休す | ばんじきゅうす banji kyuusu
: There is nothing more that can be done

万一のため | まんいちのため manichi no tame
: just in case

万止むを得ず | ばんやむをえず banyamu o ezu
: there is no hope

人間万事金の世の中 | にんげんばんじかねのよのなか ningen banji kane no yononaka
: Money talks

鶴は千年亀は万年 | つるはせんねんかめはまんねん tsuru wa sennen kame wa mannen
: Cranes live for 1000 years, turtles live for 10,000 years

目元千両口元万両 | めもとせんりょうくちもとまんりょう memoto senryou kuchi moto manryou
: (woman with) beautiful eyes and mouth



Chinese idiom / proverb
萬古長青[万古长青] wan4 gu3 chang2qing1
: remain fresh; last forever; eternal

成千上萬[万] cheng2 qian1 shang4 wan4
: lit. by the thousands and tens of thousands (idiom); untold numbers; innumerable; thousands upon thousands

一本萬[万]利 yi1 ben3 wan4 li4
: small capital, huge profit; to put in a little and get a lot out

以防萬一 yi3 fang2 wan4 yi1
: to guard against the unexpected; just in case; prepared for any eventualities

千千萬萬 qian1 qian1 wan4 wan4
: lit. by the thousands and tens of thousands; untold numbers; innumerable; thousands upon thousands

千真萬確 [千真万确] qian1 zhen1 wan4 que4
: absolutely true; manifold; true from many points of view

千言萬語 [千言万语] qian1 yan2 wan4 yu3
: thousands of words; having a lot of things to say; talking nonstop

萬世師表 [万世师表] wan4 shi4 shi1 biao3
: model teacher of every age; eternal paragon; refers to Confucius (551-479 BC) 孔子 Kong3 zi3

萬事如意 [万事如意] wan4 shi4 ru2 yi4
: to have all one’s wishes; best wishes; all the best; may all your hopes be fulfilled

萬壽無疆 [万寿无疆] wan4 shou4 wu2 jiang1
: may you enjoy boundless longevity; long may you live

萬水千山 wan4 shui3 qian1 shan1
: ten thousand crags and torrents; the trials and tribulations of a long journey; a long and difficult road

遺臭萬年 [遗臭万年] yi2 chou4 wan4 nian2
: to have one’s name go down in history as a byword for infamy

金錢萬能 [金钱万能] jin1 qian2 wan4 neng2
: money is omnipotent; money talks

萬事起頭難 [万事起头难] wan4 shi4 qi3 tou2 nan2
: the first step is the hardest

不怕一萬,就怕萬一 bu4 pa4 yi1 wan4 , jiu4 pa4 wan4 yi1
: better to be safe than sorry; to be prepared just in case

萬丈高樓平地起 [万丈高楼平地起] wan4 zhang4 gao1 lou2 ping2 di4 qi3
: towering buildings are built up from the ground; great oaks from little acorns grow

錢不是萬能的沒錢是萬萬不能的 [钱不是万能的没钱是万万不能的] qian2 bu4 shi4 wan4 neng2 de mei2 qian2 shi4 wan4 wan4 bu4 neng2 de
: Money isn’t everything but without money you have nothing

 Etymology:
象形 Pictographic.
Picture of a scorpion.



假借 Phonetic Loan.
Original form of 蠆 (chai4: scorpion).
 
The character was a picture of a scorpion, and the original meaning was “scorpion.” It is used to mean “ten thousand” by sound loan.



簡體 Simplified.
万. Created as generic character simplification #106 (萬 » 万) via creation of new character form.

 Music:


一萬零一種可能 – Rainie Yang 楊丞琳
 
作詞:易家揚
作曲:阿弟仔
編曲:阿弟仔 (跳蛋工廠)

一直沿著公路向東
記憶丟在空中
所有秘密拋進大海
沒有愛也不壞

陌生路上我狂奔
沒有空說頭好昏
忘了時間的狂奔

一萬零一種可能
我要放棄愛情 放棄過去
放棄所有眼淚
放棄傷心 放棄風景
放棄所有是非

一直沿著公路向東
記憶丟在空中
所有秘密拋進大海
沒有愛也不壞

陌生路上我狂奔
沒有空說頭好昏
忘了時間的狂奔

一萬零一種可能
我要放棄愛情 放棄過去
放棄所有眼淚
放棄傷心 放棄風景
放棄所有是非

現在開始我相信我自己
而今我相信孤單即將要流行 你跟上沒
快樂告訴我有太多路能走
世界到底有什麼不必告訴我
無所謂

credit: Rainie Yang 楊丞琳

Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary