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原料 (yuán liào) — raw material

Definition

原料 is the unprocessed raw material (oil, ore, cotton) that goes into manufacturing. Narrower than 材料 (covers processed and data too); tighter than 素材 (creative source material).

noun
raw material
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 原料。
    Gōng chǎng xū yào jìn kǒu yuán liào.
    The factory needs to import raw materials.
  • 原料。
    Zhè xiē yuán liào kě yǐ yòng lái shēng chǎn zhǐ zhāng.
    These raw materials can be used to produce paper.
  • 原料。
    yuán liào De jià gé zhí jiē yǐng xiǎng chǎn pǐn chéng běn.
    The price of raw materials directly affects product costs.

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.

原yuánraw or original
料liàomaterial

原 means raw or original and 料 means material; together they mean raw material.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

原 combines 泉 (spring) and 厂 (cliff), picturing a spring bursting from a cliff-side, which gives the sense of origin or source.

Open 原 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

料 combines 米 (rice) with 斗 (a dipper), showing rice being measured or gauged.

Open 料 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Materials & Substances

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