仙客来

仙客來

xiānkèlái

noun

Measure Word

一盆仙客来 pén

Meanings

1 cyclamen (flowering plant, loanword)

Characters

immortal; transcendent

Examples

她在窗台上种了一盆仙客来。

Tā zài chuāngtái shàng zhòng le yī pén xiānkèlái.

She has a pot of cyclamen growing on her windowsill.

仙客来在冬天开花。

Xiānkèlái zài dōngtiān kāihuā.

Cyclamen blooms in winter.

Tips

memory

A poetic loan-by-sound: 仙客来 (‘the immortal guest arrives’) phonetically approximates English ‘cyclamen’ while painting a charming image. One of the loveliest examples of Chinese flower-name borrowing.

Stroke Order

仙 xiān

客 kè

来 lái