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蹄子 (tí zǐ) — hoof (of an animal); pork hock; leg of pork (as food)

Definition

Colloquial word for an animal's hoof, and by extension a pork hock sold as food (e.g. 猪蹄子). More everyday than the literary 蹄; the cooking sense usually pairs with a meat/animal prefix like 猪 or 牛.

noun
hoof (of an animal)pork hockleg of pork (as food)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 蹄子。
    Zhè pǐ mǎ de yì zhī tí zǐ shòu shāng le.
    One of this horse's hooves is injured.
  • 。
    Tā mǎi le jǐ gè zhū tí zǐ zhǔn bèi hóng shāo.
    He bought a few pork hocks to braise in soy sauce.
  • 蹄子，。
    Niú tí zǐ suī rán yìng, dàn hěn yǒu yíng yǎng.
    Beef hooves are tough, but very nutritious.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

蹄tíhoof
子zǐ

蹄子 denotes a hoof or pork hock, with 蹄 giving the concrete sense and 子 the familiar colloquial form.

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
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
帝
帝dì蹄tí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

蹄 uses 足 (foot) to point to feet and 帝 to give its sound.

Open 蹄 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
Body PartsMeat & Seafood

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