腐肉 (fǔ ròu) — rotten meat; carrion

Definition

noun
rotten meatcarrion
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 腐肉
    Tū jiù yǐ fǔ ròu wèi shí.
    Vultures feed on carrion.
  • 腐肉
    Zhè xiē fǔ ròu yǐ jīng fā chòu le, bù néng chī.
    This rotten meat already stinks; it's not edible.
  • 腐肉
    Kē xué jiā zài fǔ ròu zhōng fā xiàn le xīn de xì jūn.
    Scientists discovered new bacteria in the carrion.

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.

rotten

腐 describes rottenness, while 肉 is meat, giving rotten meat or carrion.

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
ròuflesh; body
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

腐 is built from 肉, meaning flesh or body, and 府, pronounced fǔ, which gives the sound.

Open 腐 →

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.

Open 肉 →
Appears in

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