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脂肪酸 (zhī fáng suān) — fatty acid

Definition

noun
fatty acid

Examples

  • 脂肪酸。
    Rén tǐ xū yào duō zhǒng zhī fáng suān lái wéi chí jiàn kāng.
    The human body needs various fatty acids to maintain health.
  • 脂肪酸。
    Zhè zhǒng yóu hán yǒu fēng fù de bù bǎo hé zhī fáng suān.
    This oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids.
  • 脂肪酸。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū zhī fáng suān duì dà nǎo de yǐng xiǎng.
    Scientists are studying the effects of fatty acids on the brain.

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.

脂肪fat
脂zhīfat肪fángfat
联合Coordinate
酸suānacid

脂肪 means fat, and 酸 means acid, so the word names an acid associated with fat.

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
月Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
旨
旨zhǐ脂zhī
Same sound today

The left 月 is meat, and the right 旨 gives the sound.

Open 脂 →

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
肉肉ròumeat/flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng肪
Same sound today

肪 pairs 肉 (meat/flesh) with 方 (fāng), which gives the sound.

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
酉酉yǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
夋
夋qūn酸suān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.

Open 酸 →
Appears in
BiologyPhysics & Chemistry

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