肠衣 (cháng yī) — sausage casing (the natural or artificial skin used to encase sausage meat)

Definition

肠衣 (cháng yī) is the thin 'casing' or 'skin' used to hold sausage filling — either natural (cleaned animal intestine) or artificial. It is a specialized term in food production, distinct from the everyday 皮 or 壳 for outer coverings.

noun
sausage casing (the natural or artificial skin used to encase sausage meat)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 肠衣。
    Zhè jiā gōng chǎng shēng chǎn de cháng yī zhì liàng hěn hǎo.
    The casings produced by this factory are of good quality.
  • 肠衣。
    Zuò xiāng cháng xū yào xiān bǎ cháng yī xǐ gān jìng.
    To make sausages, you need to wash the casings first.
  • 肠衣肠衣。
    Tiān rán cháng yī bǐ rén gōng cháng yī gèng guì.
    Natural casings are more expensive than artificial ones.

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.

肠chángintestine
衣yīcasing

肠 means intestine and 衣 means casing, so together they point to the skin used to encase sausage.

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 腸; 肠 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròubody
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng腸cháng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 腸 pairs 肉, the body, with 昜, which gives the sound; the simplified 肠 is a later shorthand.

Open 肠 →

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

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