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肉体 (ròu tǐ) — the physical body; flesh and blood

Definition

肉体 refers to the physical body (flesh and blood), often contrasted with 精神 or 灵魂 — the tangible, material side of a person rather than the mind or spirit.

noun
the physical bodyflesh and blood
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 肉体。
    Líng hún yǔ ròu tǐ de guān xì yì zhí shì zhé xué tàn tǎo de hé xīn.
    The relationship between the soul and the physical body has always been a core topic of philosophical inquiry.
  • ，肉体。
    Tā jīng lì le cháng qī de bìng tòng, ròu tǐ biàn de fēi cháng xū ruò.
    He went through a long period of illness, and his body became very weak.
  • 肉体。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō shēng dòng dì miáo huì le rén lèi ròu tǐ de cuì ruò yǔ jiān rèn.
    This novel vividly depicts the fragility and resilience of the human body.

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.

肉ròuflesh
体tǐbody

肉 gives the sense of flesh and 体 gives the sense of body, so the whole means the physical body.

Characters in this word

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

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

Open 肉 →

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ體tǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Open 体 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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