酿 niàng to ferment
to ferment; to brew
怎么记住“酿”: 酉 wine + 良 good = to ferment. Grandma puts plums and sugar into an old wine jar and says "Good things need a whole summer to ferment."
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
酿 = 酉 wine + 良 good
- 酉 wine
- 良 good
Grandma puts plums and sugar into an old wine jar and says "Good things need a whole summer to ferment."
How it came to be
In the full form, wine gives the meaning and the right part the sound.
用法
- Literally to brew/ferment alcohol: 酿酒 (niàng jiǔ) to make wine, 酿造 (niàngzào) to brew.
- Figuratively 'to breed / lead to' a bad outcome: 酿成大祸 (niàngchéng dà huò) to bring about disaster, the slow-building sense of fermentation applied to trouble.
- Also a cooking verb, 酿豆腐 (niàng dòufu) stuffed tofu, i.e. filling a food with a mixture.