肘子 (zhǒu zǐ) — pork hock, upper part of a pig's leg; elbow (hu…

Definition

In everyday use, 肘子 usually means a pork hock (the cut cooked in 红烧肘子 etc.). The literal 'elbow' sense is much less common in conversation.

noun

pork hockupper part of a pig's legelbow (human)

Measure word · 只

Easily confused

肘子，。
Wǒ mǎi le yí gè zhǒu zǐ, zhǔn bèi dùn tāng.
I bought a pork hock and plan to make soup.
肘子。
Tā dǎ qiú de shí hou shāng le zhǒu zǐ.
He hurt his elbow while playing ball.
肘子。
Zhè dào hóng shāo zhǒu zǐ hěn hǎo chī.
This braised pork hock is delicious.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

肘 points to the elbow, and 子 adds no separate sense to the word.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

寸

寸cùn肘zhǒu

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form of 肘 drew a hand with a line marking the elbow. Because it looked like 寸, 肉 was added to tell the two shapes apart.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.