国际 from HSK Level 2 Vocabulary List

The Chinese word 国际 (guójì) for "international" is a compound of two characters: 国 (guó), meaning "country" or "nation," and 际 (jì), meaning "boundary" or "limit." The word 国际 literally means "between countries" or "across borders," and it is used to refer to anything that involves multiple countries or that transcends national boundaries.The character 国 (guó) has a long history in Chinese, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE). It was originally a pictograph of a walled city, and it was used to refer to a city-state or a country. Over time, the character came to be used more broadly to refer to any nation or country.The character 际 (jì) also has a long history in Chinese, dating back to the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046-256 BCE). It was originally a pictograph of a boundary marker, and it was used to refer to the boundary between two pieces of land. Over time, the character came to be used more broadly to refer to any boundary or limit.The compound word 国际 (guójì) was first used in the late 19th century to translate the English word "international." It quickly became the standard Chinese word for "international," and it is now used in a wide variety of contexts.