Definitions

áo (verb) to cook on a slow fire; to simmer
áo (verb) to endure; to suffer through

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

A phonosemantic compound, consists of the four-dot fire radical at the bottom, which ties the character to heat and cooking, and the component at the top, which gives the pronunciation. The character's original sense is a cooking technique: slowly boiling or simmering ingredients over a low fire to extract their essence or reduce a liquid to a thick consistency. The idea of slow, unrelenting heat was later extended metaphorically to human experience, describing the enduring of suffering, surviving of hardship, or staying awake through the long, weary hours of the night. This semantic shift turns a culinary process into a description of stamina and resilience.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

妈妈正在汤。

Māma zhèngzài áo tāng.

Mom is simmering soup.

夜学习。

Tā áoyè xuéxí.

He stays up late studying.

我昨晚夜工作了。

Wǒ zuówǎn áoyè gōngzuò le.

I stayed up late working last night.

过了艰难时期。

Tā áo guòle jiānnán shíqī.

He endured through the difficult period.

为了考试,她了好几个通宵。

Wèile kǎoshì, tā áo le hǎo jǐ gè tōngxiāo.

For the exam, she stayed up for several all-nighters.

人生就像药,需要耐心。

Rénshēng jiù xiàng áo yào, xūyào nàixīn.

Life is like simmering medicine, requiring patience.

如果你夜太多,身体会受不了的。

Rúguǒ nǐ áoyè tài duō, shēntǐ huì shòu bù liǎo de.

If you stay up too late, your body won't be able to handle it.

在漫长的冬天里,村民们靠粥来度过食物短缺的日子。

Zài màncháng de dōngtiān lǐ, cūnmín men kào áo zhōu lái dùguò shíwù duǎnquē de rìzi.

During the long winter, the villagers rely on simmering porridge to get through the days of food shortage.