脯 (fǔ): dried meat; jerky

Meanings

1 dried meat; jerky
2 preserved (candied) fruit
3 (read pú) chest, breast — as in 胸脯 (chest)

Characters

脯

fǔ

dried meat / preserved fruit

Examples

我喜欢吃牛肉脯。

Wǒ xǐhuān chī niúròu fǔ.

I like to eat beef jerky.

桃脯是一种传统的零食。

Táo fǔ shì yì zhǒng chuántǒng de língshí.

Candied peach is a traditional snack.

他挺起胸脯，深深地吸了一口气。

Tā tǐngqǐ xiōngpú, shēnshēnde xī le yìkǒuqì.

He stuck out his chest and took a deep breath.

Tips

mistakes

Two readings, two meanings: 脯 fǔ = dried meat or candied fruit (肉脯, 杏脯, 桃脯). 脯 pú = chest, only in 胸脯 (chest). Don't say *xiōngfǔ; the chest is 胸脯 xiōngpú.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

meat; flesh (radical form)

Left meat-flesh radical (side-form of 肉, visually identical to 月 but a different semantic source) — the indexing radical. Marks 脯 as a body-and-meat word. Carries two senses: anatomical chest flesh (when read pú in 胸脯), and preserved dried meat (read fǔ) in the cooking sense. Both link cleanly to flesh.

phonetic

甫 fǔ

manhood; just (here phonetic)

Right 甫 supplies the sound fǔ (exact match). 甫 was an honorific title for adult males in classical names (e.g. 杜甫 the Tang poet). Same phonetic family: 捕 catch, 哺 feed, 浦 riverbank, 圃 garden. Pure phonetic role; the honorific meaning of 甫 doesn't enter 脯.