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).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 4 Radical: 氵 water8 strokesFrequency #948氵 semantic 由 phonetic

Definitions

Etymology & Origin

油

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵由 (layout: left-right)

Components:氵semantic 由phonetic

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noun	nǎi yóu	cream
黄油noun	huáng yóu	butter
油漆noun	yóu qī	oil paints
油门noun	yóu mén	accelerator (pedal)
油画noun	yóu huà	oil painting
油箱noun	yóu xiāng	fuel tank
油井noun	yóu jǐng	oil well
指甲油	zhǐ jia yóu	nail polish
甘油noun	gān yóu	glycerine
润滑油noun	rùn huá yóu	lubricating oil
油脂noun	yóu zhī	grease
油田noun	yóu tián	oil field
机油noun	jī yóu	engine oil
油轮noun	yóu lún	tanker (ship)
燃油noun	rán yóu	fuel oil

107

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

油 appears in 107 compound words: 37 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 2 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.

柴chái

0.63037,805 co-occurrences

石shí

0.55540,463 co-occurrences

汽qì

0.54412,056 co-occurrences

漆qī

0.5433,690 co-occurrences

奶nǎi

0.5376,384 co-occurrences

燃rán

0.53612,945 co-occurrences

箱xiāng

0.5336,896 co-occurrences

脂zhī

0.5233,896 co-occurrences

籽zǐ

0.5211,048 co-occurrences

酱jiàng

0.5101,260 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (13)

柴米油盐cháimǐyóuyánHSK 6+

alternative form of 柴米油鹽醬醋茶 /柴米油盐酱醋茶 (chái mǐ yóu yán jiàng cù chá)

phrase

抽油烟机chōuyóuyānjīHSK 5+

extractor hood

noun

火上浇油huǒshàngjiāoyóuHSK 5+

to add fuel to the fire (to worsen a conflict)

phrase

加油添醋jiā yóu tiān cùHSK 6+

to add interest (to a story); to sex up

phrase

奶油小生nǎiyóuxiǎoshēngHSK 4+

handsome but effeminate young man; pretty boy

phrase

省油的灯shěngyóu de dēngHSK 4+

person who is easy to deal with; person who does not stir up trouble

noun

添油加醋tiānyóujiācùHSK 6+

to add color and emphasis to (a narration); to exaggerate

phrase

硝化甘油xiāohuàgānyóu

nitroglycerine; glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)

noun

油光可鉴yóu guāng kě jiànHSK 6+

lit. oily and shiny to the point of reflecting (idiom); lustrous

phrase

油腔滑调yóuqiānghuádiàoHSK 6+

for one's words to be unserious and insincere

phrase

油然而生yóu rán ér shēngHSK 4+

arising involuntarily (idiom); spontaneous; to spring up unbidden (of emotion)

phrase

油盐酱醋yóuyánjiàngcùHSK 6+

oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar; cooking ingredients; daily necessities

noun

Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 油.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

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.

三立新聞網Feb 2026

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

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

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

百度新闻Feb 2026

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"

百度新闻Feb 2026

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....

百度新闻Feb 2026

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...

Tatoeba

这里附近有没有加油站？

Zhèlǐ fùjìn yǒuméiyǒu jiāyóuzhàn?

Is there a gas station near here?

Tatoeba

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?

Tatoeba

惠子，你有奶油吐司吗？

Huìzi, nǐ yǒu nǎiyóu tǔsī ma?

Keiko, do you have any buttered toast?

Tatoeba

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?

油 (yóu) primarily means "oil." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #948 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 油 and 抽?

油 (yóu) and 抽 (chōu) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 氵 vs 扌 (same 由 component).

How many strokes does 油 have?

油 is written with 8 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 油?

The radical associated with 油 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are the components of 油?

油 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 由 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵由 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 油?

Common words with 油 include: 加油 (jiā yóu, "to add oil"); 石油 (shí yóu, "oil"); 奶油 (nǎi yóu, "cream"); 汽油 (qì yóu, "gasoline"); 黄油 (huáng yóu, "butter"). There are over 107 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 油 (yóu)?

Several characters share the pronunciation yóu: 邮 (post (office)), 有 (to have), 又 ((once) again), 由 (to follow), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 油 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 油 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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油 (yóu): oil

Definitions

Etymology & Origin

Stroke Order

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 油

Common Compounds

Strongest Collocations

Idioms & Chengyu (13)

Example Sentences

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced yóu

Frequently Asked Questions

Practice writing 油 with real-time feedback