饴 (yí): maltose syrup

Meanings

饴糖是用麦芽做成的甜糖。

Yí màiyá

Maltose syrup is a sweet sugar made from malted grain.

他甘之如饴。

Yí.

He happily took it on, as sweet as malt sugar.

usage

饴 is best known from the set phrase 甘之如饴, meaning to endure hardship as gladly as if tasting sweet malt syrup.

radical

饣 shí

food; eat

饣 is the food radical 食 in left-side form. It marks this as something edible, here a sweet syrup made from grain.

phonetic

台 tái

platform

台 supplies the sound, drifted from tái to yí. It is the phonetic element only, the same role it plays in 怡 and 贻.

饴 yí