油酸 (yóu suān) — oleic acid

Definition

noun
oleic acid

Examples

  • 油酸。
    Gǎn lǎn yóu zhōng hán yǒu fēng fù de yóu suān.
    Olive oil is rich in oleic acid.
  • 油酸。
    yóu suān Shì yì zhǒng bù bǎo hé zhī fáng suān.
    Oleic acid is a type of unsaturated fatty acid.
  • 油酸。
    Zhè zhǒng shí yòng yóu zhōng yóu suān de hán liàng hěn gāo.
    The oleic acid content in this cooking oil is very high.

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.

油yóuoil
酸suānacid

油 gives oil, and 酸 gives acid, naming an acid associated with oils.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →

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
酉酉yǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
夋
夋qūn酸suān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酸 is built from 酉 and 夋, and 夋 gives the sound.

Open 酸 →

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