次数
cìshù · HSK 6
number of times
🔢 次 = order/sequence + 数 = number; literally count-of-occurrences
次 means 'a time/instance' (as in 第一次 first time), and 数 means 'number'. Together 次数 is the count of how many times something happens — frequency in the tallying sense.
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.'
数 — 婁 (lóu, phonetic) + 攵 (action radical)
数 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) suggests an action, originally tallying or counting by striking marks. The left side 婁 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to count' to 'number' and 'several'.