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丁: nail; person

By October 31, 2014February 14th, 2015Chinese Word, Japanese Word, Language-Learning

 

丁 dīng

noun
: person; adult male; single
: nail
: strong; robust; vigor
: fourth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干; fourth in order
: letter “D” or roman “IV” in list “A, B, C”, or “I, II, III” etc; butyl
: cubes (of food)

Kun Reading

丁 | ひのと hinoto

noun
: 4th in rank; fourth sign of the Chinese calendar

丁と | ちょうと chouto

adverb
: with a clang; with a bang; with a crash

On Reading

丁 | てい tei

noun
: 4th in rank; fourth sign of the Chinese calendar

丁 | ちょう chou

counter
: counter for sheets, pages, leaves, etc.
: counter for blocks of tofu; counter for servings in a restaurant
: counter for long and narrow things such as guns, scissors, spades, hoes, inksticks, palanquins, candles, jinrikishas, shamisen, oars, etc.
: (Noun) even number
: 109.09 m

 Usage:

丁字 ding1zi4: T-shaped [ちょうじ chouji: letter T; clove]

丁字街 ding1 zi4 jie1: T-junction [丁字路 | ていじろ teiji ro: T-junction]

丁丁 zheng1 zheng1 OR ding1 ding1: sound of chopping wood, chess pieces hitting the board etc; Tintin
[丁々 | とうとう toutou OR ちょうちょう chouchou: clashing of swords; felling of trees; ringing of an ax]
人丁 ren2ding1: number of people in a family; population; (old) adult males; male servants
家丁 jia1ding1: (old) servant hired to keep guard, run errands etc
新丁 xin1ding1: new addition to a family (i.e. a birth); a boy who has just come of age; (in a job etc) newcomer; novice
柳丁 liu3ding1: tangerine
雞[鸡]丁 ji1ding1: diced chicken meat

宮爆雞丁 [宫爆鸡丁] gong1 bao4 ji1 ding1: gong bao chicken (kung pao chicken); spicy diced chicken



Japanese common word / expression / idiom
丁度 | ちょうど choudo: just; right; exactly

丁度良い | ちょうどいい choudo ii OR 丁度良い | ちょうどよい choudo yoi
: just right (time, size, length, etc.)

丁度良い時に | ちょうどよいときに choudo yoi tokini
: none too soon

*目に一丁字なし | めにいっていじなし meni itteiji nashi
OR
目に一丁字もない | めにいっていじもない meni itteiji mo nai OR めにいっちょうじもない meni icchouji monai
: completely illiterate



Chinese onomatopoeia / idiom
丁冬 ding1 dong1: ding dong; jingling of bells; clanking sound

丁零當啷 [丁零当啷] ding1 ling5 dang1 lang1
: ding-a-ling; (onom.) for sound of bell

*目不識丁 [目不识丁] mu4 bu4 shi2 ding1
: lit. the eye cannot recognize the letter T; totally illiterate

 Etymology:
象形 Pictographic.
Picture of a nail



假借 Phonetic Loan.
Original form of 釘 ding1: nail, spike; pursue closely



 Examples:
她在裙子上縫了一個補丁。
ta1 zai4 qun2zi shang4 feng2le yi1ge4 bu3ding1.
She sewed a patch on her skirt.

Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary