再三
zàisān · HSK 4
again and again
🔁 再三 = 再 (again) + 三 (three) — 'again three times', i.e. over and over
再 means 'again' and 三 means 'three'. Together they literally read 'again and again, thrice' — a set phrase for doing something repeatedly. Often paired with verbs like 考虑 (consider) or 强调 (emphasize).
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.
三 — three horizontal strokes 一 + 一 + 一
三 is a pictographic numeral: three stacked horizontal lines representing the number three, parallel to 一 (one) and 二 (two). The form has been stable since oracle bone script. It carries no phonetic component; the meaning 'three' is direct and visual.