Definitions

gāo (noun) cake; pastry

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 糕, meaning cake or pastry, is structured with the semantic component 米 for rice and the phonetic component 羔, which provides the pronunciation but not its meaning of lamb. Etymologically, it originated in later Chinese lexicons to denote foods made from grains like rice or wheat flour. Its application gradually narrowed from a broad category of grain-based dishes to more specifically refer to sweet or steamed cakes in modern usage.

Example Sentences Hide

我喜欢吃蛋

Wǒ xǐhuān chī dàngāo.

I like to eat cake.

妈妈买了点。

Māma mǎi le gāodiǎn.

Mom bought pastries.

这个蛋很美味。

Zhège dàngāo hěn měiwèi.

This cake is very delicious.

昨天我吃了年

Zuótiān wǒ chī le niángāo.

Yesterday I ate rice cake.

如果下雨,我们就在家做蛋

Rúguǒ xià yǔ, wǒmen jiù zài jiā zuò dàngāo.

If it rains, we will make cake at home.

姐姐从超市买来了绿豆和月饼。

Jiějie cóng chāoshì mǎi lái le lǜdòu gāo hé yuèbǐng.

Older sister bought mung bean cake and moon cakes from the supermarket.

这些点是由厨师精心制作的。

Zhèxiē gāodiǎn shì yóu chúshī jīngxīn zhìzuò de.

These pastries are carefully made by the chef.

鉴于健康考虑,他选择了无糖饼作为零食。

Jiànyú jiànkāng kǎolǜ, tā xuǎnzé le wútáng gāobǐng zuòwéi língshí.

Considering health, he chose sugar-free cakes as snacks.