thousand

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 千 represents the number 1,000; its on-reading is せん.
• Basic usage: In 千円 for one thousand yen and 千人 for one thousand people, the following element determines what is counted or the unit.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Thousands and about a thousand
  • 数千 is read すうせん and expresses a scale of several thousand.
  • およそ千人 means around one thousand people, while 数千人 means several thousand people. Both are approximate, but their scale differs.