花生 (huā shēng) — peanut | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Standard mainland word for 'peanut' (the nut itself, and the plant). 土豆 means 'potato' in standard usage — in Taiwan it can mean peanut, so context matters.

noun

peanut

Measure word · 粒

Examples

花生。
Wǒ chī le yí lì huā shēng.
I ate one peanut.
花生。
huā shēng Zhǒng zài shā tǔ lǐ zhǎng dé zuì hǎo.
Peanuts grow best in sandy soil.
花生。
Mā ma yòng huā shēng zuò le hěn duō huā shēng jiàng.
Mom made a lot of peanut butter with peanuts.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

生shēngproduce

The name pictures 花 producing the pod, so 花生 refers to the peanut.

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.

艹化花

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

化

Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

屮屮chèbud
一一yīground

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Food (General)

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