番 fān a time
to take turns; to repeat; a turn; foreign
How it came to be
A paw print over a field, tracks crossing the ground one set after another. Counting the crossings is where turns and occasions come from.
用法
- Works as a measure word for an effort, speech, or scene: 一番话 (yī fān huà) "a talk/some words", 一番心血 (yī fān xīnxuè) "a lot of effort".
- 三番五次 (sānfān-wǔcì) "time and again" uses this same measure sense, meaning "many rounds".
- 翻番 (fānfān) means "to double", built on the older sense of 番 as "a turn/round".
- In 番茄 (fānqié) "tomato", 番- acts as an old prefix marking foreign/imported things, same role as in 番薯 (fānshǔ) "sweet potato".