Example sentences
wǒ我qù去guò过yī一cì次。
I've been once.
zhè这cì次nǐ你qù去ba吧。
You go this time.
The story behind the character
次
次 is 欠 (a person with an open mouth, breathing out) with 冫 (ice) on the left. Xu Shen defined it as 不前不精也, something that neither advances nor measures up. Second-rate. That sense of "second" is where the counting word comes from. First, then 次: the one ranked below.