蜂蜜 (fēng mì) — honey | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

蜂蜜 is the sweet food bees produce (the noun 'honey'). It is not the insect itself — that is 蜜蜂. Honey is what the bee makes from collected nectar.

noun

honey

Examples

蜂蜜。
Mì fēng cǎi mì zuò chéng fēng mì.
Bees collect nectar to make honey.
蜂蜜，。
Zhè zhǒng fēng mì de yán sè hěn shēn, wèi dào xiāng tián.
This kind of honey is dark in color and tastes sweet and fragrant.
蜂蜜。
Hěn duō rén yòng fēng mì lái dài tì táng zuò cài.
Many people use honey instead of sugar when cooking.

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.

蜂 'bee' and 蜜 'honey' combine to name honey made by bees.

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.

虫夆蜂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

虫虫chónginsect

Sound part声符shēngfú

夆

夆páng蜂fēng

Same sound today

蜂 puts 虫, showing an insect, beside 夆, which gives its sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

宓虫蜜

Meaning part形符xíngfú

虫虫chónginsect

Sound part声符shēngfú

宓

宓mì蜜mì

Same sound today

蜜 is built from 虫, an insect, and 宓, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Food (General)

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