秒
miǎo/mi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/informal
The Chinese word for the unit of time 'second' is 秒 (miǎo). Wiktionary also lists 秒鐘 / 秒钟 (miǎozhōng).
Meaning: one-sixtieth of a minute, SI unit of time (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 秒 | miǎo | /mi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /miau⁵³/ (Mandarin, Chengdu, Sinological IPA) |
informal |
| 秒鐘 / 秒钟 | miǎozhōng | formal |
The word refers to the SI unit of time, specifically one-sixtieth of a minute.
Which one should you use?
The word 秒 is the informal version, while 秒鐘 / 秒钟 is a more formal way to express the duration of a second.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
秒 is considered informal, whereas 秒鐘 / 秒钟 is used in formal contexts.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is miǎo.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers sometimes mistakenly use 秒 to mean 'second' in a sequence, such as 'the second person'. To express ordinal numbers, you should use 第二 instead.
Did you know?
- In modern internet slang, 秒 is used as a verb meaning to defeat an opponent instantly or to buy a limited-edition item the moment it goes on sale.
- The character 秒 was originally used to describe the tip of a grain of cereal or a tiny seed. It was later adopted to represent the smallest unit of time.
- While 秒 is the standard for a second, the word 刹那 is used in Chinese to describe an even smaller, almost infinitesimal moment of time, stemming from Buddhist terminology.
Examples in context
- 据统计，数百名员工不得不工作上百个小时出现的失误与计算机在百万分之一秒的时间内才会犯的错同样巨大。It was calculated that hundreds of workers would have to work a hundred hours to make a mistake as enormous as that which a computer can make in a millionth of a second.This sentence illustrates the scale of a computer's error within a millionth of a 秒.Tatoeba #5951843 by yhlyhl, translation #5951765 by mailohilohi
- Facebook的用户每一秒发一万以上个信息。Over ten thousand messages are sent every second on Facebook.This sentence shows the frequency of messages sent every 秒.Tatoeba #1214439 by eastasiastudent, translation #1214440 by eastasiastudent
- 他是比赛的 第二 名。He came in second place in the competition.
- 请拿给我 第二个 文件。Please hand me the second file.
- 我们下个月 第二次 见面。We will meet for the second time next month.
- 她获得了 第二名 。She won second place.
- 等一下，我只需要一秒。Děng yīxià, wǒ zhǐ xūyào yī miǎo.Wait a moment, I only need a second.
Example conversation
Two friends are timing a sprint in a park.
- 志强 Zhiqiang佳怡，你跑得真快！Jiāyí, nǐ pǎo de zhēn kuài!Jiayi, you run so fast!
- 佳怡 Jiayi我用了多少秒？Wǒ yòng le duōshǎo miǎo?How many seconds did I take?
- 志强 Zhiqiang一共是十二秒。Yígòng shì shí'èr miǎo.It was twelve seconds in total.
- 佳怡 Jiayi太棒了，我破纪录了！Tài bàng le, wǒ pò jìlù le!Great, I broke the record!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “second” translations and entries 秒, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 秒, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
