Meaning of 玉米
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- corn
- maize
Measure word: 粒
How to use 玉米
玉米 is the everyday word for corn, both the plant and the food. You will see it in dishes and snacks like 玉米汤 (corn soup) and 爆米花 (popcorn, which uses 米 too). Example: 我喜欢吃烤玉米。(Wǒ xǐhuan chī kǎo yùmǐ.) I like eating grilled corn.
玉 (yù) means jade and 米 (mǐ) means rice or grain. Picture shiny yellow kernels lined up like little jade beads on a cob, and you have 玉米, corn.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 玉 (yù) with 王 (wáng, king). 玉 has an extra dot at the lower right, and without it you are writing a different character. Also remember 米 here does not mean meter as in 厘米 (límǐ) or 毫米 (háomǐ).
玉米 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.
玉 yù · jade · 5 strokes
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- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
米 mǐ · uncooked rice · 6 strokes
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- 2
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- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 玉米.
Questions about 玉米
What does 玉米 mean?
玉米 (yùmǐ) means "corn; maize" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 玉米?
玉米 is made of 2 characters: 玉 (5 strokes), 米 (6 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 玉米 an HSK word?
Yes. 玉米 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 米 mean both rice and meter?
米 originally means rice or grain, as in 大米 (dàmǐ) and 米饭 (mǐfàn). It was later borrowed to write the sound of the metric unit meter, so it appears in 厘米 (límǐ) and 平方米 (píngfāngmǐ). In 玉米 it keeps the grain meaning.
What is the measure word for 玉米?
For a whole ear of corn, people usually say 根 (gēn) or 个 (gè), for example 一根玉米 (yì gēn yùmǐ), one ear of corn. For corn kernels as a mass, you can just say 玉米粒 (yùmǐlì).