精肉 (jīng ròu) — lean meat (dialectal)

Definition

Means 'lean meat' — the fatty-trimmed cut, often contrasted with 肥肉. The term is mainly colloquial and regional; in standard Mandarin 瘦肉 is more common.

noun
lean meat (dialectal)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 精肉。
    Wǒ qù chāo shì mǎi le yì xiē jīng ròu.
    I went to the supermarket and bought some lean meat.
  • 精肉。
    Mā ma yòng jīng ròu zuò le jiǎo zi xiàn.
    Mom made dumpling filling with lean meat.
  • 精肉。
    Chī jīng ròu bǐ chī féi ròu gèng jiàn kāng.
    Eating lean meat is healthier than eating fatty meat.

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.

精jīnglean
肉ròumeat

精 and 肉 together describe lean, non-fatty 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng精jīng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

精 pairs 米 (rice) with 青, which gives the sound; the character originally meant polished rice.

Open 精 →

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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