消化 meaning in English
to digest (food); (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process
Meaning of 消化
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to digest (food)
- (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process
How to use 消化
消化 is used for digesting food and, very commonly, for absorbing new information or knowledge. It also appears in business for working through stock or backlog, as in 消化库存 (xiāohuà kùcún). Example: 这么多内容，我需要时间消化。(Zhème duō nèiróng, wǒ xūyào shíjiān xiāohuà.) There is so much content, I need time to digest it.
消 (xiāo) means to melt away or eliminate, and 化 (huà) means to change or transform. When you digest, food melts away and changes into something your body can use.
Common mistake: Learners often say 化 with the wrong tone. It is fourth tone huà, the same as in 变化 (biànhuà) and 文化 (wénhuà), not huā as in 花. Also, 消 is first tone xiāo, so do not confuse it with 小 (xiǎo).
消化 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.
消 xiāo · to diminish · 10 strokes
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化 huà · to make into · 4 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 消化.
| 消息 | xiāoxi | (piece of) news; information; message |
| 消失 | xiāoshī | to disappear; to fade away |
| 取消 | qǔxiāo | to cancel; to call off; to revoke; to rescind |
| 变化 | biànhuà | (intransitive) to change; to vary; change; variation |
| 文化 | wénhuà | culture; civilization |
| 消费 | xiāofèi | to consume (goods and services, resources etc) |
| 现代化 | xiàndàihuà | modernization |
| 消除 | xiāochú | to eliminate; to remove |
| 进化 | jìnhuà | to evolve (biologically, technologically etc); evolution |
| 消防 | xiāofáng | firefighting; fire control |
| 化石 | huàshí | fossil |
| 消毒 | xiāodú | to disinfect; to sterilize |
Questions about 消化
What does 消化 mean?
消化 (xiāohuà) means "to digest (food); (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 消化?
消化 is made of 2 characters: 消 (10 strokes), 化 (4 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 消化 an HSK word?
Yes. 消化 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say indigestion or poor digestion in Chinese?
You can say 消化不良 (xiāohuà bùliáng), which means indigestion. In daily speech people also say 不好消化 (bù hǎo xiāohuà) for food that is hard to digest.
Can 消化 be used as a noun?
Yes, it can act like a noun in phrases such as 帮助消化 (bāngzhù xiāohuà), to help digestion, and 消化系统 (xiāohuà xìtǒng), the digestive system.