Definitions

zào (noun) kitchen stove; cooking stove

Etymology

A clay  oven 

About

is the standard character for a kitchen stove or furnace. It originated as a simplified form of the complex traditional character , which depicted a cavity and a toad-like creature linked to earthen hearths. The modern character combines the fire radical and the earth radical , straightforwardly representing a clay oven with a fire inside, the typical construction of traditional rural cooking stoves. It designates the physical cooking apparatus, not the kitchen or culinary arts in general. The character also carries cultural significance due to the Kitchen God, a folk deity believed to dwell in the family stove and observe household behavior.

Example Sentences Hide

厨房里有一个台。

Chúfáng lǐ yǒu yīgè zàotái.

There is a stove in the kitchen.

煤气点火很方便。

Méiqì zào diǎnhuǒ hěn fāngbiàn.

The gas stove is very convenient for lighting.

奶奶用旧烧水。

Nǎinai yòng jiù zào shāo shuǐ.

Grandma uses the old stove to boil water.

上的锅已经热了。

Zào shàng de guō yǐjīng rè le.

The pot on the stove is already hot.

清洁具时要小心。

Qīngjié zàojù shí yào xiǎoxīn.

Be careful when cleaning the stove.

现代厨房大多用电

Xiàndài chúfáng dàduō yòng diàn zào.

Modern kitchens mostly use electric stoves.

神是厨房的传统信仰。

Zàoshén shì chúfáng de chuántǒng xìnyǎng.

The kitchen god is a traditional belief in the kitchen.

他们正在安装新的嵌入式具。

Tāmen zhèngzài ānzhuāng xīn de qiànrù shì zàojù.

They are installing a new built-in stove.