斤 jīn a catty (about 500 grams)
How it came to be
象形 · Pictogram
A drawing of the thing it means.
Originally: axe
The oldest form is an axe, a bent handle with the blade at its top.
How it is used
- A unit of weight, the 'catty' = 500 g (half a kilo): 三斤苹果 (sān jīn píngguǒ) three catties of apples, the everyday market weight in China.
- 公斤 (gōngjīn) 'public jin' = kilogram; note market 斤 (500 g) vs 公斤 (1000 g), an easy conversion trap.
- Idiom 半斤八两 (bàn jīn bā liǎng) 'half a catty vs eight taels' = six of one, half a dozen of the other: from the old 16-tael catty.
Characters built with 斤
Words with 斤
Example sentences
- 这些苹果重5斤。 Zhèxiē píngguǒ zhòng wǔ jīn.These apples weigh five pounds.
- 你的行李超过20公斤了。 Nǐ de xíngli chāoguò èrshí gōngjīn le.Your luggage weighs over 20 kilograms.