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杏仁 (xìng rén) — almond; apricot kernel

Definition

杏仁 (xìngrén) is a polysemous food/medicine noun: it can mean almond (the nut common in Western cooking) or apricot kernel (the seed inside a Chinese apricot pit, used in TCM). Context — recipes vs. traditional medicine — tells them apart.

noun
almondapricot kernel
Measure word · 颗

Examples

  • 杏仁。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng chī jǐ kē xìng rén.
    I eat a few almonds every morning.
  • 杏仁。
    Zhè zhǒng xìng rén bǐng gān hěn hǎo chī.
    This kind of almond cookie is very tasty.
  • 杏仁。
    Zhōng yī yòng xìng rén zhì liáo ké sou.
    Traditional Chinese medicine uses apricot kernel to treat coughs.

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.

杏xìngapricot
仁rénkernel

杏 'apricot' and 仁 'kernel' name the seed inside apricots or almonds.

Characters in this word

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

杏 pairs 木 (tree) with 口 (mouth), perhaps showing that the tree’s fruit is tasty.

Open 杏 →

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
二二èr
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén仁rén
Same sound today

仁 is built from 人 and 二; 人 gives the sound, and 二 gives the meaning.

Open 仁 →
Appears in
Food (General)

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