大头菜 (dà tóu cài) — rutabaga (a type of root vegetable); salted turnip (a pickled vegetable often used as a side dish)

Definition

Refers to both rutabaga (the Western root vegetable) and Chinese salted/pickled turnip. The exact referent depends on region and context — in northern China it usually means the pickled turnip used as a side dish or cooking ingredient.

noun
rutabaga (a type of root vegetable)salted turnip (a pickled vegetable often used as a side dish)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 大头菜，。
    Zhè dào cài lǐ fàng le qiē suì de dà tóu cài, wèi dào hěn tè bié.
    This dish has chopped salted turnip in it, and the flavor is very special.
  • 大头菜，。
    Chāo shì xīn dào le yì pī dà tóu cài, nǐ kě yǐ mǎi lái shì shì.
    The supermarket just got a new batch of rutabaga; you can buy some to try.
  • 大头菜，。
    Tā xiǎo shí hou jiā lǐ cháng yān dà tóu cài, xiàn zài xiǎng qǐ lái hái hěn huái niàn.
    His family often pickled salted turnips when he was young, and now he still feels nostalgic when he thinks about it.

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.

大头big head
大dàbig头tóuhead
偏正Modifier + head
菜càivegetable

大 and 头 describe a large head, 菜 is vegetable, so a vegetable with a large head.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi菜cài
Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Open 菜 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.