adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 plump; fleshy
  2. 2 fertile; rich (of land)
  3. 3 rich and elegant (of writing or living)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zhè piàn píngyuán tǔdì fēngyú, hěn shìhé gēngzhòng.
The plain has fertile soil, well suited to farming.
HSK 7-9
Tā shēncái fēngyú, liǎnjiá hóngrùn.
Her figure was full and her cheeks plump and rosy.

Tips

usage
The original sense was the fat on a belly, so it means 'plump' for a body and, by extension, 'fertile' for land and 'rich' for prose or living. Most common today in 丰腴 ('full-figured; richly fertile') and 膏腴 ('fat and fertile land').

Components

radical
ròu
flesh; meat (body radical)
This is the flesh radical ⺼ (a body-form, not the moon). It marks the word as about the body - here the fat on a plump belly, the literal root of the 'rich, fertile' senses.
phonetic
a moment; brief
Supplies the sound exactly: standalone reads yú, matching this character. It is purely phonetic, contributing no meaning.

Stroke Order