草莓 (cǎo méi) — strawberry | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

strawberry

Measure word · 颗

Examples

草莓，。
Wǒ xǐ huan chī cǎo méi, yóu qí shì pèi zhe nǎi yóu.
I like eating strawberries, especially with whipped cream.
草莓。
Zhè ge jì jié de cǎo méi tè bié tián.
Strawberries in this season are especially sweet.
草莓。
Tā zài huā yuán lǐ zhǒng le yì xiē cǎo méi.
She planted some strawberries in the garden.

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.

草 (grass) and 莓 (berry) combine to name the strawberry.

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.

艹早草

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant

Sound part声符shēngfú

早

早zǎo草cǎo

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

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

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