卤 (lǔ): to stew in soy sauce and spices, alkaline soil, salt
卤 (lǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to stew in soy sauce and spices.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺊ (structural), 囗 (structural) and 乂 (structural). It ranks #2961 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 卤 a container used to brine pickles. Its radical form 卜 (divination) appears in many related characters such as 占 (zhàn, to observe), 卡 (kǎ, to stop), 卧 (wò, to lie).
Definitions
- to stew in soy sauce and spices
- alkaline soil
- salt
Etymology & Origin
pictographicA container used to brine pickles
Decomposition: ⿱⺊⿴囗乂 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 卤 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卤莽adjective | lǔ mǎng | variant of 魯莽|鲁莽 |
| 卤素noun | lǔ sù | halogen (chemistry) |
| 卤水noun | lǔ shuǐ | brine |
| 卤化物noun | lǔ huà wù | halide (i.e. fluoride, chloride, bromide etc) |
| 石英卤素灯 | shí yīng lǔ sù dēng | quartz halogen lamp |
| 光卤石noun | guāng lǔ shí | (mineralogy) carnallite |
| 卤化银noun | lǔ huà yín | silver halide (usually chloride) used to fix photos |
| 金卤灯 | jīn lǔ dēng | metal halide lamp |
| 卤素灯noun | lǔ sù dēng | halogen lamp |
| 卤化verb | lǔ huà | to halogenate |
| 卤代烃noun | lǔ dài tīng | haloalkane (obtained from hydrocarbon by substituting halogen for hydrogen, e.g. chlorobenzene or the CFCs) |
| 卤质 | lǔ zhì | alkalinity |
| 拟卤素 | nǐ lǔ sù | pseudohalogen, e.g. cyanogen (CN)2 |
| 卤属 | lǔ shǔ | see 鹵素|卤素 |
| 卤族noun | lǔ zú | see 鹵素|卤素 |
卤 appears in 25 compound words: 68 as the first character, 12 as the last, and 20 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 卤 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
这个卤字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě lǔ zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "卤" had different meanings in ancient Chinese.
提醒大家,泡脚可不是“卤爪”,使用不当可能引起皮肤过敏。
tí xǐng dà jiā , pāo jiǎo kě bù shì lǔ zhǎo , shǐ yòng bù dāng kě néng yǐn qǐ pí fū guò mǐn .
Just a reminder: soaking your feet isn’t the same as “braising your feet,” and improper use can cause skin allergies.
在烹饪过程中,尤其是长时间的炖煮或卤制,皮下脂肪会受热融化。
zài pēng rèn guò chéng zhōng , yóu qí shì cháng shí jiān de dùn zhǔ huò lǔ zhì , pí xià zhī fáng huì shòu rè róng huà .
During cooking, especially when simmering or braising for long periods, the fat under the skin melts when heated.
用冬瓜和腌苋菜的“臭卤”腌制的臭冬瓜,闻着臭、吃着香,是宁波特有的下饭神器。
yòng dōng guā hé 腌 苋 cài de chòu lǔ 腌 zhì de chòu dōng guā , wén zhe chòu , chī zhe xiāng , shì nìng bō tè yǒu de xià fàn shén qì .
"Stinky winter melon," pickled using the "stinky brine" made from winter melon and pickled amaranth, smells foul but tastes delicious; it's a Ningbo specialty that goes perfectly with rice.
...险昏倒!1招自救超危急 来台吃爆地瓜球、卤肉饭
. . . xiǎn hūn dǎo ! 1 zhāo zì jiù chāo wēi jí lái tái chī bào dì guā qiú , lǔ ròu fàn
...I almost fainted! One lifesaving tip for emergencies: Indulge in sweet potato balls and braised pork rice while in Taiwan
台湾南北卤肉饭边款易水肿?营养师揭北部卤肉饭吃完体...
tái wān nán běi lǔ ròu fàn biān kuǎn yì shuǐ zhǒng ? yíng yǎng shī jiē běi bù lǔ ròu fàn chī wán tǐ . . .
Is braised pork rice from northern and southern Taiwan more likely to cause water retention? A nutritionist reveals what happens to your body after eating northern-style braised pork rice...
这锅卤肉还太稀,再煮十分钟收汁一下,味道才会巴在肉上。
Zhè guō lǔròu hái tài xī, zài zhǔ shí fēnzhōng shōu zhī yīxià, wèidao cái huì bā zài ròu shàng.
This braised pork is still too watery. Cook it for another ten minutes to thicken the sauce, so the flavor sticks to the meat.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 卤 (lǔ)?
Is 卤 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 卤 with real-time feedback
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