兆 (zhào) - trillion & omen

兆Tone 4

zhào ｜ 6 strokes ｜ radical: 儿

丈志

兆 · zhào

trillion;

omen;

portent;

sign;

to foretell;

to predict;

ancient Chinese numeral for one million or trillion

trillionomenportent

Usage highlights

omenportenttrillionmegapremonitionbad omen

Synonyms

Antonyms

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The economic output reached one trillion yuan (兆元).
  • There were ominous signs before the earthquake (地震前兆).
  • This is a good omen for the future (吉兆).
  • The fortune teller predicted his future (兆卜).

Collocations

  • omen(兆头)
  • portent(征兆)
  • trillion(兆)
  • mega- (prefix)(兆)
  • premonition(预兆)
  • bad omen(凶兆)

Idioms

  • Auspicious clouds foretell good fortune(瑞兆祥云)
  • Signs of snow foretell a bumper harvest(雪兆丰年)
  • Ill omen brings misfortune(凶兆临头)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In ancient China, 兆 originally referred to cracks on tortoise shells used in divination, representing omens.
  • In modern usage, 兆 serves as a numeral unit meaning trillion (10^12) in the International System and million (10^6) in some traditional contexts.
  • The character appears in many words related to prediction and signs due to its divinatory origins.

FAQ