麦片 (mài piàn) — oatmeal; breakfast cereal | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

oatmealbreakfast cereal

Measure word · 袋

Examples

麦片。
Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng chī yì wǎn mài piàn.
I eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning.
麦片。
Zhè zhǒng mài piàn jiā le jiān guǒ hé shuǐ guǒ.
This cereal has nuts and fruit added.
麦片。
Tā mǎi le yì hé mài piàn dāng zǎo cān.
He bought a box of cereal for breakfast.

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.

麦 refers to grain and 片 to a flake or slice, so 麦片 is flaked grain cereal.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 麥; 麦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

夊夊suīfootprint pointing down; to walk slowly

Sound part声符shēngfú

來

來lái麥mài

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

For 麦, the traditional form 麥 pairs 來, which gives the sound and once meant wheat, with 夊, a footprint pointing down for slow walking.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Grains & Staples

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