Meaning of 油
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- oil
- fat
- grease
- petroleum
- to apply tung oil, paint or varnish
- oily
- greasy
- glib
How to use 油
油 covers cooking oil, fuel, and grease, and it appears in many everyday words like 酱油 (jiàngyóu, soy sauce) and 汽油 (qìyóu, gasoline). As an adjective it can mean greasy food or a slick, glib person. Example: 这个菜太油了。(Zhège cài tài yóu le.) This dish is too oily.
油 (yóu) has the water radical 氵 on the left and 由 (yóu) on the right. Think of the three drops as liquid, and 由 gives the sound, so 油 is a liquid that sounds like yóu: oil.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 油 with 抽 (chōu, to pull or smoke) and 由 (yóu, from), since they share the same right side. Remember that only 油 has the water radical 氵, because oil is a liquid.
油 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
油 yóu · oil · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 油.
| 加油 | jiāyóu | to add oil; to top up with gas; to refuel; to accelerate; to step on the gas |
| 石油 | shíyóu | oil; petroleum |
| 汽油 | qìyóu | gasoline |
| 加油站 | jiāyóuzhàn | gas station |
| 酱油 | jiàngyóu | soy sauce |
| 油画 | yóuhuà | oil painting |
| 燃油 | rányóu | fuel oil |
| 香油 | xiāngyóu | sesame oil; perfumed oil |
| 奶油 | nǎiyóu | cream; butter |
| 黄油 | huángyóu | butter |
| 油漆 | yóuqī | oil paints; lacquer |
| 油炸 | yóuzhá | to deep fry |
Questions about 油
What does 油 mean?
油 (yóu) means "oil; fat" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 油?
油 is made of 1 character: 油 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 油 an HSK word?
Yes. 油 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why do Chinese people shout 加油 at sports games?
加油 (jiāyóu) literally means to add fuel, but it is used to cheer someone on, like saying come on or keep going. You can say it to a friend before an exam too.
Can 油 describe a person?
Yes. 油 or 油腻 (yóunì) can describe someone who seems slick, smooth-talking, or a bit sleazy. 油嘴滑舌 (yóu zuǐ huá shé) means glib and smooth-tongued.