麦子 (mài zi) — wheat; barley (also broadly used for other cere…

Definition

noun

wheatbarley (also broadly used for other cereal grains)

Measure word · 株

麦子。
Nóng mín zài tián lǐ zhǒng le hěn duō mài zi.
The farmers planted a lot of wheat in the fields.
麦子。
Zhè xiē mài zi kě yǐ mó chéng miàn fěn zuò miàn bāo.
These grains can be ground into flour to make bread.
，麦子。
Qiū tiān dào le, jīn sè de mài zi chéng shú le.
Autumn has arrived, and the golden wheat is ripe.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

The cereal 麦, with 子, gives the familiar spoken word for wheat or barley.

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 麥; 麦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

夊夊suīfootprint pointing down; to walk slowly

Sound part声符shēngfú

來

來lái麥mài

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 麦, the traditional form 麥 pairs 來, which gives the sound and once meant wheat, with 夊, a footprint pointing down for slow walking.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.