椰肉 (yē ròu) — coconut meat; coconut flesh

Definition

noun

coconut meatcoconut flesh

Measure word · 块

椰肉。
Xīn xiān de yē ròu kě yǐ zhí jiē chī.
Fresh coconut meat can be eaten directly.
椰肉。
Tā bǎ yē ròu qiē chéng xiǎo kuài zuò tián diǎn.
She cut the coconut meat into small pieces to make dessert.
椰肉。
yē ròu Kě yǐ yòng lái zuò yē nǎi.
Coconut meat can be used to make coconut milk.

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.

椰yēcoconut

“椰” means coconut and “肉” means flesh; together they name the edible flesh inside a coconut.

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.

木耶椰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

耶

Same sound today

椰 has 木 on the left, showing a tree, and 耶 on the right, giving the yē sound.

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.