胡椒 (hú jiāo) — pepper (spice or plant) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

pepper (spice or plant)

Examples

胡椒。
Wǒ zài cài shì chǎng mǎi le yì diǎn hú jiāo.
I bought a little pepper at the market.
胡椒。
Zuò cài de shí hou fàng yì diǎn hú jiāo huì gèng xiāng.
When cooking, adding a little pepper makes it more fragrant.
胡椒，。
Zhè zhǒng hú jiāo lái zì yìn dù, wèi dào hěn tè bié.
This kind of pepper comes from India and has a very special flavor.

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.

胡húforeign

胡 means foreign and 椒 means pepper, denoting a foreign pepper.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

古gǔ胡hú

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

胡 combines 古, which points to its sound, with ⺼ (肉), meaning meat or flesh.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Flavors & Seasonings

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