肉

肉 U+8089, 肉 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8089 ← 肈 [U+8088] CJK Unified Ideographs 肊 → [U+808A]

⾁ U+2F81, ⾁ KANGXI RADICAL MEAT ← ⾀ [U+2F80] Kangxi Radicals ⾂ → [U+2F82]

Stroke order

Stroke order

• ⺼ U+2EBC (when used as a left Chinese radical in compositions)

The left component form ⺼ looks very similar to ⺝, the left radical form of 月 (“moon”), and is often drawn identically in compounds. However they are etymologically distinct, and careful usage distinguishes the cross strokes, with ⺼ written with unattached diagonal strokes. This is particularly an issue in looking up characters by radical; compare 月 index and 肉 index.

The radical form ⺼ may also appear twisted to a diagonal, resembling 夕 with an added line, as in 祭, 然, and 將.

肉 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 人月人 (OBO), four-corner 4022₇, composition ⿵内人 or ⿻冂仌)

1. Kangxi radical #130, ⾁.

• Appendix:Chinese radical/肉
• 𪠼, 𢫭, 𭸆, 𨹌, 朒, 𣧻, 𧻣, 𩣀, 䯐, 𩶩, 𨛇, 𦧘, 𭑶, 𠒯, 𫻯, 𭃘, 𡱎, 𢩌, 𥭊, 𨿇, 𩬳, 𪗌, 瘸, 𤻚
• 將 (top right component)
• 祭 (top left component)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 973, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29236
• Dae Jaweon: page 1424, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 2931, character 1
• Unihan data for U+8089

simp. and trad.		肉
alternative forms		宍 𥤬 𠕜 𡧢 𠕎 宍 𥤬 𠕜 𡧢 𠕎 𮌇

Pictogram (象形) – ribs of an animal’s torso or simply a physical representation of a slice of meat. Stylized into 月 when next to a phonetic component and 𱼀 and/or 夕 inside some characters.

Probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *now (“tender; soft”), which has also been compared to 柔 (OC *mlju, “soft; flexible”), 揉 (OC *mju, “to knead”), 軟 (OC *njonʔ, “soft”), 弱 (OC *njewɢ, “weak”), 懦 (OC *noːls, *njo, “cowardly”), 荏 (OC *njɯmʔ, “weak”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007). Alternatively, it may be from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nja-k (“meat, flesh”) (STEDT).

"media"

Back-formation from 生肉 (shēngròu). See there for more.

肉

1. meat; flesh

   豬肉／猪肉  ―  zhūròu  ―  pork

   牛肉  ―  niúròu  ―  beef

   我從不吃肉。／我从不吃肉。  ―  Wǒ cóngbù chī ròu.  ―  I never eat meat.

   這種魚的肉異常鮮美。 [MSC, trad.]
   这种鱼的肉异常鲜美。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè zhǒng yú de ròu yìcháng xiānměi. [Pinyin]

   The flesh of this kind of fish has exceptional delicacy.

   不久，鬣狗便可飽餐一頓這些死了的動物的肉。 [MSC, trad.]
   不久，鬣狗便可饱餐一顿这些死了的动物的肉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bùjiǔ, liègǒu biànkě bǎocānyīdùn zhèxiē sǐ le de dòngwù de ròu. [Pinyin]

   Soon, the hyenas could then feast on the flesh of these dead animals.

   • 斷竹，續竹，飛土，逐宍 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     断竹，续竹，飞土，逐宍 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 彈歌

     duàn zhú, xù zhú, fēi tǔ, zhú ròu [Pinyin]

     cut the bamboo, tie the bamboo [weapon], let fly the mud [bullets], pursue the meat

2. (specifically) pork

   肉三鮮的餃子／肉三鲜的饺子  ―  ròusānxiān de jiǎozi  ―  three delicious ingredient pork dumpling

   蒜薹炒肉  ―  suàntái chǎo ròu  ―  garlic chive and pork stir-fry

   肉骨 [Hokkien]  ―  hia̍k-kut [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pork ribs

3. body

   肉體／肉体  ―  ròutǐ  ―  physical body

4. flesh; pulp

   這桃子肉味甜汁多。 [MSC, trad.]
   这桃子肉味甜汁多。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè táozi ròu wèi tián zhī duō. [Pinyin]

   The flesh of the peach was sweet and juicy.

5. (ACG) media; video

   生肉  ―  shēngròu  ―  raws (not fansubbed videos or clips)

   熟肉  ―  shúròu  ―  localized, subbed, or dubbed media

   烤肉  ―  kǎoròu  ―  localized, subbed, or dubbed media, with detailed effects

6. (Quanzhou Hokkien) main part of an object

   刀肉 [Hokkien]  ―  to-hia̍k [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  blade of a knife or sword

肉

1. (archaic) edge; brim; an outer part of a ring-shaped object (such as coin or jade annulus)

   • 肉倍好謂之璧 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     肉倍好谓之璧 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Erya, 5^th – 2^nd century BCE

     ròu bèi hǎo wèi zhī bì [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (archaic, of sound and music) rich; substantial

   • 使其曲直繁瘠，廉肉節奏，足以感動人之善心而已矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     使其曲直繁瘠，廉肉节奏，足以感动人之善心而已矣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Shǐ qí qūzhí fánjí, liánròu jiézòu, zúyǐ gǎndòng rén zhī shànxīn ér yǐyǐ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. (dialectal Mandarin) spongy; squashy; flabby

   這西瓜瓤兒太肉了。 [MSC, trad.]
   这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè xīguā rángr tài ròu le. [Pinyin]

   The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.

4. (dialectal Mandarin) slow; sluggish

   這個人做事真肉。 [MSC, trad.]
   这个人做事真肉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè ge rén zuòshì zhēn ròu. [Pinyin]

   This person does everything sluggishly.

simp. and trad.		肉
alternative forms		脈／脉 𬁲

Unclear. Reminiscent of 脢 (OC *mɯːs, *mɯː, *mɯːs, “dorsal meat”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, it may be of substrate origin. Compare (Deng, 1994):

• Proto-Austronesian *SimaR (“grease; oil; fat”) > Amis simal;
• Proto-Tai *manᴬ (“grease; fat”) > Thai มัน (man);
• Malay gemuk (“fat”, adjective);
• Bunun masmuh (“fat”, adjective);
• Tsat maʔ˥˧ (“fat”, adjective).

肉 (Hokkien, Teochew)

1. meat; flesh

   豬肉／猪肉 [Hokkien]  ―  ti-bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pork

   牛肉 [Hokkien]  ―  gû-bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  beef

2. (specifically) pork

   肉骨 [Hokkien]  ―  bah-kut [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pork ribs

3. flesh; pulp

   龍眼乾肉／龙眼干肉 [Hokkien]  ―  lêng-géng-koaⁿ bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  flesh of dried longan

4. main part of an object

   刀肉 [Hokkien]  ―  to-bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  blade of a knife or sword

• “肉”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[3], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A03288
• “Entry #2607”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.
• (Cantonese) 粵音資料集叢
• zi.tools

Shinjitai	肉
Kyūjitai [1][2][3]	肉󠄁 肉+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. flesh, meat

• Go-on: にく (niku, Jōyō)^{←にく (niku, historical)}
• Kan-on: じく (jiku)^{←じく (ziku, historical)}
• Kun: しし (shishi, 肉)

Kanji in this term
肉
しし Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
宍

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *sisi. Not used in isolation in modern standard Japanese. Persists in compounds and in some dialects.

Cognate with 獣 (shishi, “beast, especially one used for meat”).

• (Tokyo) しし [shíꜜshì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[4][5]
• IPA^(key): [ɕiɕi]

肉(しし) • (shishi) 

1. [from 712–1682] (archaic, possibly obsolete or dialect, Aomori, Fukushima, Nara, Kagoshima) meat (of boars, pigs, deer, etc.)
2. [from 712–1682] (archaic, possibly obsolete) human flesh
3. (dialect, Iwate, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama) muscle
4. (dialect, Toyama) excess fat, flab
5. (dialect, Kochi) the human body

Kanji in this term
肉
にく Grade: 2
goon

From Middle Chinese 肉 (MC nyuwk). Compare modern Hokkien 肉 (jio̍k / lio̍k), Teochew 肉 (ne̍k), or Hakka 肉 (ngiuk⁷).

• (honorific) お肉(にく) (o-niku)

• (Tokyo) にく [nìkúꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[6][5][7]
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ikɯ̟]

肉(にく) • (niku) 

1. meat, the muscle and fat tissue of an animal used as food
   • (Can we date this quote?), 一九二九年一月——二月‎^[4]:

     この肉(にく)上(あ)げましょうか、食(た)べたくなる程(ほど)美味(おい)しい肉(にく)ですよ

     kono niku agemashō ka, tabetakunaru hodo oishī niku desuyo

     Should I give this meat [to someone else]? I want to eat them so much because this meat is just so good!

2. the flesh of an animal
3. the flesh of a fruit or vegetable
4. one's body, as opposed to spirit
5. (Kansai) a woman not part of the demimonde who engaged in secret, unlicensed prostitution

   See also: Thesaurus:娼婦

6. (Christianity) refers to humans themselves, their world, and their sins, as opposed to their spirit
7. the thickness of a thing

   板(いた)の肉(にく)

   ita no niku

   the thickness of a board

8. (figurative) the flesh or meat of something, such as an idea, structure, or argument

   議(ぎ)論(ろん)に肉(にく)をつける

   giron ni niku o tsukeru

   to put some meat on an argument, to flesh out an argument

9. an ink pad, a stamp pad
10. (theater, kabuki) short for 肉襦袢 (niku juban): flesh-toned undergarments worn by actors and shown when the character has to display their skin

• (fruit or vegetable flesh): 実(み) (mi)
• (body): 肉(にく)体(たい) (nikutai)
• (thickness): 厚(あつ)さ (atsusa), 太(ふと)さ (futosa)
• (ink pad): 印(いん)肉(にく) (inniku)

肉 (eumhun 고기 육 (gogi yuk))

1. hanja form^? of 육 (“meat, flesh”)

肉: Hán Nôm readings: nhục^[1], nậu, nhụ

1. (only in compounds) chữ Hán form of nhục (“flesh”).

• Dự án Từ điển tiếng Việt miễn phí