脂肪 (zhī fáng) — fat (in the body, in plants, or in food)

Definition

noun
fat (in the body, in plants, or in food)

Examples

  • 脂肪,。
    Tā tǐ nèi zhī fáng tài duō, xū yào duō yùn dòng.
    He has too much fat in his body and needs to exercise more.
  • 脂肪,。
    Zhè zhǒng shí wù hán yǒu dà liàng zhī fáng, yào shǎo chī.
    This kind of food contains a lot of fat, so eat less of it.
  • 脂肪。
    Jiān guǒ zhōng hán yǒu dà liàng zhī fáng.
    Nuts contain a lot of fat.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

肪fángfat

The parts 脂 and 肪 both refer to fatty substance, so together they mean body fat.

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
月Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
旨
旨zhǐ脂zhī
Same sound today

The left 月 is meat, and the right 旨 gives the sound.

Open 脂 →

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
肉肉ròumeat/flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
Same sound today

肪 pairs 肉 (meat/flesh) with 方 (fāng), which gives the sound.

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