肥

féi

巴 + 月

HSK 3.0Level 6

Definitions

féi (adjective) fat; plump

féi (adjective) fertile

féi (noun) fertilizer; manure

féi (verb) to fertilize

féi (adjective) loose-fitting; large

Etymology

Depicts a person (卩) with extra flesh (肉) on their body.

Semantic: ⺼ Phonetic: 巴

About

肥 originally depicted a person (卩) with extra flesh (肉) on their body, conveying plumpness. In its modern form, the left component 月, derived from 肉 rather than moon, signifies flesh, while the right component 巴 functions as the phonetic. The primary sense describes fat or an abundance of flesh, typically used for animals and meat rather than people in polite contexts. This notion extends to land that is fertile, nutrient-rich, and capable of yielding abundant crops, associating physical plumpness with agricultural productivity.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这只狗太肥了。

Zhè zhǐ gǒu tài féi le.

This dog is too fat.

我不吃肥肉。

Wǒ bù chī féiròu.

I do not eat fatty meat.

肥胖对健康不好。

Féipàng duì jiànkāng bù hǎo.

Obesity is not good for health.

农民给田地施肥料。

Nóngmín gěi tiándì shī féiliào.

Farmers apply fertilizer to the fields.

这里的土壤很肥沃。

Zhèlǐ de tǔrǎng hěn féiwò.

The soil here is very fertile.

她正在努力减肥。

Tā zhèngzài nǔlì jiǎnféi.

She is trying hard to lose weight.

为了健康，他决定减少吃肥腻的食物。

Wèile jiànkāng, tā juédìng jiǎnshǎo chī féinì de shíwù.

For the sake of health, he decided to eat less greasy food.

虽然这块土地看起来不肥，但经过合理施肥后，庄稼长得很好。

Suīrán zhè kuài tǔdì kàn qǐlái bù féi, dàn jīngguò hélǐ shīféi hòu, zhuāngjià zhǎng de hěn hǎo.

Although this piece of land looks infertile, after reasonable fertilization, the crops grow very well.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 巴

Component: 月

肥