酶 (méi): enzyme, ferment

酶 (méi) is a Chinese character meaning “enzyme.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 酉 (semantic) and 每 (phonetic). It ranks #3162 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 酶 chemical. Its radical form 酉 (wine) appears in many related characters such as 酗 (xù, drunk), 酝 (yùn, to brew), 配 (pèi, to join).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. enzyme
  2. ferment

Etymology & Origin

酶

pictophoneticchemical

Decomposition: ⿰酉每 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Practice writing 酶 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
转氨酶nounzhuǎn ān méitransferase (enzyme)
蛋白酶noundàn bái méiprotease
激酶nounjī méikinase (biochemistry)
淀粉酶noundiàn fěn méiamylase
凝血酶nounníng xuè méithrombin (biochemistry)
消化酶nounxiāo huà méidigestive enzyme
过氧物酶体guò yǎng wù méi tǐperoxisome (type of organelle)
连接酶lián jiē méiligase
限制酶xiàn zhì méirestriction enzyme
限制酶图谱xiàn zhì méi tú pǔrestriction mapping (in genomics)
酶原nounméi yuánzymogen
聚合酶nounjù hé méipolymerase (enzyme)
髓过氧化物酶suǐ guò yǎng huà wù méimyeloperoxidase (aka MPO) (molecular biology)
凝血酶原níng xuè méi yuánprothrombin
神经氨酸酶shén jīng ān suān méineuraminidase (the N of virus such as bird flu H5N1)
32
Total compounds
3
As first character
84
As last character
13
As middle character

酶 appears in 32 compound words: 3 as the first character, 84 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

胃蛋白酶wèidànbáiméi

pepsin

noun

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

如果超过60摄氏度,洗涤剂中的酶可能会发生变性,失去原有的去污能力。

rú guǒ chāo guò 6 0 shè shì dù , xǐ dí jì zhōng de méi kě néng huì fā shēng biàn xìng , shī qù yuán yǒu de qù wū néng lì .

If the temperature exceeds 60 degrees Celsius, the enzymes in the detergent may denature and lose their original cleaning power.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

硒能激活体内的谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶,清除自由基,延缓衰老。

硒 néng jī huó tǐ nèi de gǔ 胱 gān tài guò yǎng huà wù méi , qīng chú zì yóu jī , yán huǎn shuāi lǎo .

Selenium activates glutathione peroxidase in the body, scavenges free radicals, and slows down aging.

奇客SolidotAug 2026

在欧亚大陆北部人群中,几丁质酶基因发生了突变,导致人体消化昆虫外骨骼的能力下降。

zài ōu yà dà lù běi bù rén qún zhōng , jǐ dīng zhì méi jī yīn fā shēng le tū biàn , dǎo zhì rén tǐ xiāo huà kūn chóng wài gǔ gé de néng lì xià jiàng .

Among populations in northern Eurasia, mutations in the chitinase gene have occurred, leading to a reduced ability to digest insect exoskeletons.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

在这个缓慢的升温过程当中,给肉类内部的各种酶类留下了充分的活动时间。

zài zhè gè huǎn màn de shēng wēn guò chéng dāng zhōng , gěi ròu lèi nèi bù de gè zhǒng méi lèi liú xià le chōng fēn de huó dòng shí jiān .

During this slow heating process, the various enzymes within the meat are given ample time to act.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

影响消化、营养缺乏 贝类、淡水鱼中含有硫胺素酶,会分解食物中的维生素B1。

yǐng xiǎng xiāo huà , yíng yǎng quē fá bèi lèi , dàn shuǐ yú zhōng hán yǒu liú àn sù méi , huì fēn jiě shí wù zhōng de wéi shēng sù B 1 .

Effects on Digestion and Nutritional Deficiencies: Shellfish and freshwater fish contain thiaminase, which breaks down vitamin B1 in food.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 酉 (chemical) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced méi

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 酶 (méi) mean in Chinese?
酶 (méi) primarily means "enzyme." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3162 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 酶 and 海?
酶 (méi) and 海 (hǎi) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 酉 vs 氵 (same 每 component).
How many strokes does 酶 have?
酶 is written with 14 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 酶?
The radical associated with 酶 is 酉 (wine). This radical appears in many characters related to wine.
What are the components of 酶?
酶 is composed of: 酉 (semantic), 每 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰酉每 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 酶?
Common words with 酶 include: 转氨酶 (zhuǎn ān méi, "transferase (enzyme)"); 蛋白酶 (dàn bái méi, "protease"); 激酶 (jī méi, "kinase (biochemistry)"); 淀粉酶 (diàn fěn méi, "amylase"); 凝血酶 (níng xuè méi, "thrombin (biochemistry)"). There are over 32 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 酶 (méi)?
Several characters share the pronunciation méi: 梅 (plum), 霉 (mold). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 酶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 酶 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 酶 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.