多久
duō jiǔ · HSK 2
how long?
⏳ 多 (many) + 久 (long time) = how much time / how long?
多 means many or much; 久 means a long duration. Together they literally ask about the quantity of time — how long? Common in questions like 多久了 (how long has it been?).
多 — two 夕 (evening) stacked
多 originally depicted two pieces of meat (夕, a variant of 肉) stacked together, suggesting abundance. Over time it was reanalyzed as two 'evenings' piled up — many evenings meaning many days, hence 'many, much'. The doubling itself conveys quantity.
久 — person 人 with a stroke marking the back
Originally a pictograph showing a person from behind with a mark indicating moxibustion treatment applied to the back, the original sense of 'cauterize' (now written 灸). It was borrowed phonetically to mean 'long time' or 'enduring,' which became its standard meaning.