股票

The Chinese word for stock, 股票 (gǔpiào), is composed of two characters: 股 (gǔ) and 票 (piào). The character 股 originally meant "thigh" or "leg", but in modern Chinese it has come to mean "share" or "portion". The character 票 originally meant "a tally" or "a token", but in modern Chinese it has come to mean "a ticket" or "a certificate". Thus, the word 股票 literally means "a share certificate".The term 股票 first appeared in the late Qing dynasty, when it was used to refer to shares of stock in foreign companies. In the early 20th century, the term began to be used to refer to shares of stock in Chinese companies as well. Today, 股票 is the most common word used to refer to stocks in Chinese.The word 股票 is also used in other contexts to refer to shares or portions of something. For example, it can be used to refer to shares of a company's profits or to shares of a government's bonds.