冻肉 (dòng ròu) — frozen meat; jellied meat

Definition

Two distinct senses: literally 'frozen meat' (肉 that has been frozen, as in a supermarket), and the Chinese dish 'jellied meat' — pork braised and chilled until the broth sets into a savory aspic.

noun
frozen meatjellied meat
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 冻肉。
    Zhè xiē dòng ròu xū yào fàng zài bīng xiāng lǐ.
    These frozen meats need to be put in the fridge.
  • 冻肉，。
    Zhè dào cài yòng de shì dòng ròu, kǒu gǎn hěn tè bié.
    This dish uses jellied meat, the texture is very special.
  • 冻肉。
    Chāo shì de dòng ròu zhèng zài dǎ zhé.
    The frozen meat at the supermarket is on sale.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

冻dòngfrozen
肉ròumeat

冻 refers to frozen or set by cold, and 肉 is meat, giving the sense of frozen meat or jellied meat.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 凍; 冻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīng
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng凍dòng
Same sound today

The traditional form 凍 pairs 冫 (ice) with 東 for the sound; the simplified 冻 is a later shorthand.

Open 冻 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

Open 肉 →

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