汤锅 (tāng guō) — soup pot, stockpot; (archaic/literary) slaughterhouse, butcher shop

Definition

In modern Chinese 汤锅 means 'soup pot' — a deep pot for simmering broth or stewing. The older sense 'slaughterhouse' survives only in literary or historical writing, not daily use.

noun
soup potstockpot(archaic/literary) slaughterhousebutcher shop
Measure word · 口

Examples

  • 汤锅。
    Mā ma yòng tāng guō zhǔ le yì guō jī tāng.
    Mom used a soup pot to cook a pot of chicken soup.
  • 汤锅，。
    Zhè ge tāng guō hěn dà, kě yǐ dùn zhěng zhī jī.
    This soup pot is very big; you can stew a whole chicken in it.
  • 汤锅，。
    Xiǎo shuō lǐ miáo xiě le yí gè jiù shí de tāng guō, ràng rén gǎn dào yīn sēn.
    The novel described an old slaughterhouse, giving people a creepy feeling.

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.

汤tāngsoup
锅guōpot

汤锅 is a 锅 'pot' used for 汤 'soup'.

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 湯; 汤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng湯tāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 汤, the shape explained is 湯: 氵 is water, and 昜 gives the sound.

Open 汤 →

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 鍋; 锅 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi鍋guō
Same sound today

In the traditional form 鍋, 金 marks metal and 咼 provides the sound; the simplified 锅 is a later shorthand.

Open 锅 →

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