芝麻油 (zhī ma yóu) — sesame oil | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sesame oil

Examples

芝麻油，。
Chǎo qīng cài de shí hou jiā yì diǎn zhī ma yóu, wèi dào tè bié xiāng.
Add a little sesame oil when stir-frying greens; it tastes especially fragrant.
芝麻油。
Liáng bàn huáng guā yòng zhī ma yóu hé cù tiáo wèi hěn hǎo chī.
Cold cucumber salad tastes great seasoned with sesame oil and vinegar.
芝麻油，。
Zhè zhǒng zhī ma yóu shì chún shǒu gōng zhì zuò de, yíng yǎng hěn fēng fù.
This kind of sesame oil is made by hand and is very nutritious.

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.

芝麻sesame

芝麻 names the sesame plant, and 油 means oil, yielding oil pressed from sesame seeds.

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.

艹之芝

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

之zhī芝⁰zhī

Same sound today

芝 is built from 艹, a grass form, plus 之 as a sound part; it names a type of plant.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

厂厂chǎng
𣏟𣏟𣏟

麻 combines 厂 and 𣏟 to represent hemp leaves.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

氵由油

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.

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