人次
réncì · HSK 7
man-times
🧮 人 person + 次 time/occurrence = counting each person-visit, like man-hours
人次 stacks 人 (person) onto 次 (a count of occurrences). It tallies total visits or attendances: ten people coming three times each is 30 人次, the same way man-hours total work regardless of who did it.
人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.
次 — 冫 ice + 欠 yawn/lack
Originally depicted a person (欠) sighing or hesitating, with 二 (later written 冫) marking repetition or a secondary position. The core sense developed from 'second in order' or 'next' into related meanings like 'sequence,' 'time/occurrence,' and 'inferior quality.'