油 (yóu): oil
油 (yóu) is a Chinese character meaning “oil.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 由 (phonetic). It ranks #948 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 油 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- oil
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 油 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 油
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 加油verb | jiā yóu | to add oil | 4 |
| 石油noun | shí yóu | oil | 6 |
| 汽油noun | qì yóu | gasoline | 5 |
| 加油站noun | jiā yóu zhàn | gas station | 4 |
| 酱油noun | jiàng yóu | soy sauce | 6 |
| 油条noun | yóu tiáo | youtiao (deep-fried breadstick) | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 奶油 | nǎi yóu | cream |
| 黄油 | huáng yóu | butter |
| 油漆 | yóu qī | oil paints |
| 油门 | yóu mén | accelerator (pedal) |
| 油画 | yóu huà | oil painting |
| 油井 | yóu jǐng | oil well |
| 甘油 | gān yóu | glycerine |
| 油田 | yóu tián | oil field |
| 机油 | jī yóu | engine oil |
| 油轮 | yóu lún | tanker (ship) |
| 燃油 | rán yóu | fuel oil |
| 柴油 | chái yóu | diesel fuel |
| 油布 | yóu bù | tarpaulin |
| 牛油 | niú yóu | butter |
| 油水 | yóu shuǐ | grease |
油 appears in 100 compound words: 44 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 1 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 油 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
speaking in a confident way but without careful thought or honesty; glib, being a fast-talker
Example Sentences
国际原油价格的波动会直接影响国内的汽油价格。
Guójì yuányóu jiàgé de bōdòng huì zhíjiē yǐngxiǎng guónèi de qìyóu jiàgé.
Fluctuations in international crude oil prices will directly affect domestic gasoline prices.
油品、建案双引擎全开 北基下步锁定绿能
yóu pǐn , jiàn àn shuāng yǐn qíng quán kāi běi jī xià bù suǒ dìng lǜ néng
The dual engines of oil products and construction projects are fully open, and the next step of the North Base is to lock in green energy
钢厂赴美设点开出第一枪 API石油钢管大厂天声将斥资13亿元前进德州
gāng hǎn fù měi shè diǎn kāi chū dì yī qiāng A P I shí yóu gāng guǎn dà hǎn tiān shēng jiāng chì zī 1 3 yì yuán qián jìn dé zhōu
Steel mills went to the United States to set up a point and fired the first shot API petroleum steel pipe manufacturer Tiansheng will spend 1.3 billion yuan to advance to Texas
倒酱油、拌肉馅,看春晚机器人化身“新春大厨”
dǎo jiàng yóu , bàn ròu xiàn , kàn chūn wǎn jī qì rén huà shēn xīn chūn dà chú
Pour soy sauce, mix meat filling, and watch the Spring Festival Gala robot transform into a "New Year chef"
深夜,黄金、白银、原油齐涨,美股三大指数集体上涨丨..
shēn yè , huáng jīn bái yín yuán yóu qí zhǎng , měi gǔ sān dà zhǐ shǔ jí tī shǎng zhǎng 丨 . .
Late at night, gold, silver, crude oil rose, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose collectively 丨....
普通人也能开飞机回家过年了?飞2小时油费只要200..
pǔ tōng rén yě néng kāi fēi jī huí jiā guò nián le ? fēi xiǎo shí yóu fèi zhī yāo . .
Can ordinary people really fly home for the New Year? A two-hour flight costs just 200 yuan in fuel...
这里附近有没有加油站？
Zhèlǐ fùjìn yǒuméiyǒu jiāyóuzhàn?
Is there a gas station near here?
叫个清蒸鲈鱼好呢，还是蚝油牛肉好？
Jiào gè qīngzhēng lúyú hǎo ne, háishi háoyóu niúròu hǎo?
Should we order the steamed perch or the beef with oyster sauce?
惠子，你有奶油吐司吗？
Huìzi, nǐ yǒu nǎiyóu tǔsī ma?
Keiko, do you have any buttered toast?
你要在咖啡上加些奶油吗？
Nǐ yào zài kāfēi shàng jiā xiē nǎiyóu ma?
Would you like some cream in your coffee?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 油 (yóu) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 油 and 袖?
How many strokes does 油 have?
What is the radical of 油?
What are the components of 油?
What are common words containing 油?
What characters sound the same as 油 (yóu)?
Is 油 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 油 with real-time feedback
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