一再
yīzài · HSK 4
again and again
🔁 一 (one) + 再 (again) = one-more-again, i.e. over and over
再 by itself means 'again/once more'; prefixing 一 intensifies it into 'again and again'. Compare 再见 (see again = goodbye) and 一再强调 (repeatedly emphasize).
一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'
再 — top 一 + 冂 frame + 土-like inner strokes
再 originally depicted a stack of fish or piled objects, suggesting accumulation or repetition. Over time it came to mean 'again' or 'once more,' emphasizing a second occurrence of an action. The modern form is stylized and no longer clearly pictographic.