橄榄 (gǎn lǎn) — olive (fruit or tree) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

olive (fruit or tree)

Measure word · 颗

橄榄。
Wǒ xǐ huan chī gǎn lǎn.
I like to eat olives.
。
Zhè kē gǎn lǎn shù yǐ jīng yǒu èr shí nián le.
This olive tree is already twenty years old.
。
gǎn lǎn Yóu kě yǐ yòng lái zuò cài.
Olive oil can be used for cooking.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

橄gǎn

The characters 橄 and 榄 do not carry separate meanings here; together they name the olive fruit or tree.

Sound-only characters

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

木敢橄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

敢

Same sound today

橄 uses 木 to point to a tree and 敢 to give the sound.

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 欖; 榄 is its simplified writing.

木覽欖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

覽

覽lǎn欖lǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 欖 has 木 (tree) beside 覽, which gives the sound; the simplified 榄 is a later shorthand.

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