麦粉 (mài fěn) — flour (especially wheat flour); oatmeal (ground… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

flour (especially wheat flour)oatmeal (ground oats)

Examples

麦粉。
Zuò miàn bāo xū yào hěn duō mài fěn.
Making bread requires a lot of flour.
麦粉。
Tā měi tiān zǎo shàng hē yì wǎn mài fěn zhōu.
He drinks a bowl of oatmeal porridge every morning.
麦粉。
Chāo shì lǐ de mài fěn zhǒng lèi hěn duō.
There are many kinds of flour in the supermarket.

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.

麦 means wheat and 粉 means powder, giving flour ground from wheat.

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.

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

米分粉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

分fēn粉fěn

Same sound today

粉 pairs 米 (rice) with 分 for its sound. The rice part points to face powder made from rice.

Appears in

Grains & Staples

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