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料 (liào) — material; stuff (used in making things); animal feed; fodder

Definition

As a noun, 料 means raw material or animal feed — more specific than the everyday 东西 ('stuff'). For 'ingredients' in cooking, 料 is a common shorthand; for general materials, 材料 is the standard word.

noun
materialstuff (used in making things)animal feedfodder
Measure word · 种
Easily confused

Examples

  • 料，。
    Zhè zhǒng liào hěn jiē shi, shì hé zuò zhuō zi.
    This material is very durable and suitable for making tables.
  • 料。
    Zhè xiē liào shì zhuān mén gěi jī chī de.
    This feed is specially for chickens.
  • 料？
    Zuò zhè dào cài xū yào nǎ xiē liào?
    What ingredients needed to make this dish?

Origin

Compound ideograph
六书liùshū
会意huìyì

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

料 combines 米 (rice) with 斗 (a dipper), showing rice being measured or gauged.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Materials & Substances5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.