秒 meaning in English
second (unit of time); arc second (angular measurement unit)
Meaning of 秒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- second (unit of time)
- arc second (angular measurement unit)
- (coll.) instantly
How to use 秒
秒 is a measure word for seconds and follows a number directly, as in 三十秒 (sānshí miǎo, thirty seconds). In casual speech 秒 can also mean doing something instantly. 他一秒就回答了。(Tā yì miǎo jiù huídá le.) He answered in a second.
秒 combines 禾 (grain plant) with 少 (shǎo, few, little). Picture the tiniest tip of a grain stalk, a very small thing, just like a second is a very small piece of time.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 秒 (miǎo) with 妙 (miào, wonderful), which has 女 instead of 禾 and a fourth tone. Remember that the grain radical 禾 goes with time, and keep 秒 in the third tone.
秒 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
秒 miǎo · second · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 秒.
Questions about 秒
What does 秒 mean?
秒 (miǎo) means "second (unit of time); arc second (angular measurement unit)" and is used as a measure word.
How do you write 秒?
秒 is made of 1 character: 秒 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 秒 an HSK word?
Yes. 秒 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 秒 and 秒钟?
Both mean second. 秒 works directly after a number, like 十秒 (shí miǎo). 秒钟 (miǎozhōng) is a bit more spoken and complete, as in 等我五秒钟 (děng wǒ wǔ miǎozhōng, give me five seconds).
How do you say hours, minutes, and seconds together in Chinese?
Use 小时 (xiǎoshí) for hours, 分钟 (fēnzhōng) or 分 (fēn) for minutes, and 秒 for seconds. For example, 两分三十秒 (liǎng fēn sānshí miǎo) means two minutes and thirty seconds. The idiom 争分夺秒 also pairs 分 and 秒 to mean making every second count.