肉豆蔻 (ròu dòu kòu) — nutmeg | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

nutmeg

Examples

肉豆蔻。
Wǒ zài tāng lǐ fàng le yì diǎn ròu dòu kòu.
I put a little nutmeg in the soup.
，肉豆蔻。
Zuò dàn gāo shí, kě yǐ jiā yì xiē ròu dòu kòu.
When making cake, you can add some nutmeg.
肉豆蔻。
Zhè zhǒng ròu dòu kòu chǎn zì yìn dù ní xī yà.
This kind of nutmeg is produced in Indonesia.

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.

豆蔻cardamom

豆dòubean蔻kòucardamom

联合Coordinate

肉 means flesh and 豆蔻 means cardamom, so nutmeg is named as a fleshy cardamom.

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.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

豆 originally drew some kind of container. It was borrowed for its sound to write the plant name, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹寇蔻

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

寇

寇kòu蔻kòu

Same sound today

In 蔻, the top 艹 is a plant part, and the lower 寇 gives the sound.

Appears in

Flavors & Seasonings

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