膏 (gāo) · paste; cream; ointment

Meanings

1 paste; cream; ointment
2 grease; fat

Characters

膏

gāo

paste; cream; grease

Examples

HSK 3

医生给他开了一种药膏。

Yīshēng gěi tā kāi le yī zhǒng yàogāo.

The doctor prescribed an ointment for him.

HSK 5

别忘了挤牙膏。

Bié wàng le jǐ yágāo.

Don't forget to squeeze the toothpaste.

HSK 7-9

她每天晚上都涂面膏。

Tā měitiān wǎnshang dōu tú miàngāo.

She applies face cream every night.

Tips

usage

膏 usually appears in compounds: 牙膏 (toothpaste), 药膏 (ointment), 膏药 (medicated plaster), 润肤膏 (skin cream). Standalone 膏 is literary.

history

In classical Chinese, 膏 referred to animal fat, and by extension to anything rich or fertile: 民脂民膏 means 'the people's blood and sweat' (fat and grease), referring to wealth extracted from common people.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

meat; flesh (radical form)

Bottom meat-flesh radical (the side-form of 肉, visually identical to 月 moon but a different semantic source) - the indexing radical. Anchors 膏 in the body/substance family alongside 脂 fat, 膜 membrane. Originally the rendered fat sealed atop a stew; that primal grease became today's creams, balms, and pastes.

phonetic

高 gāo

tall; high (here phonetic)

Top 高 supplies the sound gāo, an exact match with no drift. The same phonetic powers 稿 manuscript, 搞 to do, 篙 punting pole, 镐 pickaxe. Faint semantic flavor of 'rich, refined' may have helped tag 膏 for premium oils and ointments rendered from animal fat.