蒜

suàn

祘 + 艹

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

suàn (noun) garlic

Etymology phono-semantic

herb

Semantic: 艹 Phonetic: 祘

About

蒜 is a phono-semantic compound that denotes garlic, a pungent bulbous plant widely used in cuisine. The upper semantic radical 艹 (grass/vegetation) categorizes it among herbaceous plants. The lower component 祘 functions as the phonetic, guiding pronunciation while occupying the lower portion of the character. Historically, the meaning has stayed strictly within the botanical and culinary domain of this allium species, signifying both the entire plant and its individual flavoring cloves, without developing any abstract or secondary senses.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我喜欢吃大蒜。

Wǒ xǐhuān chī dàsuàn.

I like to eat garlic.

大蒜可以调味。

Dàsuàn kěyǐ tiáowèi.

Garlic can be used for seasoning.

妈妈买了许多蒜。

Māma mǎile xǔduō suàn.

Mom bought a lot of garlic.

蒜蓉扇贝很好吃。

Suànróng shànbèi hěn hào chī.

Garlic scallops are delicious.

吃蒜对身体有好处。

Chī suàn duì shēntǐ yǒu hǎochù.

Eating garlic is good for health.

这道菜需要加蒜末。

Zhè dào cài xūyào jiā suànmò.

This dish needs to add minced garlic.

蒜的价格最近上涨了。

Suàn de jiàgé zuìjìn shàngzhǎng le.

The price of garlic has risen recently.

种植大蒜需要肥沃的土壤。

Zhòngzhí dàsuàn xūyào féiwò de tǔrǎng.

Growing garlic requires fertile soil.

Related Characters

Component: 祘

蒜