TongTong
Sign in

肉类 (ròu lèi) — meats (as a food category); meat dishes

Definition

noun
meats (as a food category)meat dishes
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 肉类。
    Chāo shì de ròu lèi qū yǒu hěn duō xuǎn zé.
    The supermarket's meat section has many choices.
  • 肉类，。
    Wǒ xǐ huan chī ròu lèi, yóu qí shì jī ròu.
    I like to eat meat, especially chicken.
  • 肉类。
    Zhè jiā diàn de ròu lèi cài zuò dé hěn hǎo.
    This restaurant's meat dishes are very well made.

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.

肉ròumeat
类lèicategory

肉 “meat” and 类 “category” combine to mean the category of meats.

Characters in this word

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 →

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 類; 类 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
頪
頪lèi類lèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 類 pairs 犬, which relates to the meaning, with 頪, which gives the sound. The simplified 类 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 类 →
Appears in
Meat & Seafood

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