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石油 (shí yóu) — petroleum; crude oil

Definition

石油 specifically means crude petroleum — the raw, unrefined oil extracted from the earth. 油 is the general word for 'oil/fat', while 汽油 is refined gasoline and 燃油 covers processed engine fuels.

noun
petroleumcrude oil

Examples

  • 石油。
    Zhōng dōng dì qū shí yóu chǔ liàng fēi cháng fēng fù.
    The Middle East has very abundant petroleum reserves.
  • 石油。
    shí yóu De jià gé zhí jiē yǐng xiǎng quán qiú jīng jì.
    Oil prices directly affect the global economy.
  • 石油，。
    Suí zhe shí yóu zī yuán de jiǎn shǎo, xīn néng yuán yuè lái yuè zhòng yào.
    As petroleum resources decline, new energy becomes more important.

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.

石shístone
油yóuoil

石 means 'stone' and 油 means 'oil', so the word pictures oil from rock.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 石 shows a stone under a cliff-like overhang, or a cave set into a cliff side.

Open 石 →

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 →
Appears in
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