脂肪 (zhī fáng) — fat (in the body, in plants, or in food) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fat (in the body, in plants, or in food)

Examples

脂肪，。
Tā tǐ nèi zhī fáng tài duō, xū yào duō yùn dòng.
He has too much fat in his body and needs to exercise more.
脂肪，。
Zhè zhǒng shí wù hán yǒu dà liàng zhī fáng, yào shǎo chī.
This kind of food contains a lot of fat, so eat less of it.
脂肪。
Jiān guǒ zhōng hán yǒu dà liàng zhī fáng.
Nuts contain a lot of fat.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

肪fángfat

The parts 脂 and 肪 both refer to fatty substance, so together they mean body 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.

月旨脂

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.

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

Same sound today

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

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Biology

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.