大幅度
dà fú dù · HSK 7
by a wide margin
📏 big (大) width (幅) degree (度) — a large stretch of scale
Each character spells it out: 大 means big, 幅 means width or range, 度 means degree or extent. Stack them and you get something that covers a huge span — a substantial, wide-margin change.
大 — pictograph of a person with arms outstretched
大 is a pictograph showing a person standing with arms and legs spread wide. The outstretched arms suggest 'big' or 'great', extending from the literal image of a large stance to abstract meanings like important or grand. It is one of the oldest characters, found on oracle bones.
幅 — cloth radical 巾 + 畐 (full)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 巾 (cloth) gives the meaning, since 幅 originally referred to the width of a bolt of cloth. 畐 supplies the sound, related to 'fu'. The meaning later broadened to 'width' in general and to a measure word for paintings or scrolls.
度 — 广 (shelter) + 庶 abbreviated (phonetic)
Originally depicted a hand measuring length under a shelter, meaning 'to measure' or 'a measure/standard.' From this came extended senses like 'degree,' 'extent,' and 'to pass through' (as in passing time). The reading 'dù' means degree/measure, while 'duó' preserves the older verbal sense of measuring.