豆腐 (dòu fu) — tofu; bean curd | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Soft white food made from soybeans, set into blocks. 豆子 is the raw bean itself; 豆浆 is the liquid soy milk — 豆腐 is the curdled, solid form.

noun

tofubean curd

Measure word · 块

Examples

豆腐。
Jīn tiān de dòu fu hěn xīn xiān.
Today's tofu is very fresh.
豆腐。
Mā ma yòng dòu fu zuò tāng gěi wǒ hē.
Mom made soup with tofu for me.
豆腐。
Wǒ zài chāo shì mǎi le dòu fu hé shū cài.
I bought tofu and vegetables at the supermarket.

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.

腐fǔcurdled/fermented

豆腐: 豆 plus 腐, bean curd.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

豆 originally drew some kind of container. It was borrowed for its sound to write the plant name, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

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

府肉腐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

肉肉ròuflesh; body

Sound part声符shēngfú

府

府fǔ腐fǔ

Same sound today

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

Appears in

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

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