Chinese word

味觉

Pronunciation

Pinyinwèi jué

Meaning

  • nounsense of taste

Example

我感冒了，味觉暂时丧失了。wǒ gǎn mào le wèi jué zàn shí sàng shī le

I have a cold, and I temporarily lost my sense of taste.

Illustration for 味觉 (sense of taste)

More examples

我生病了好几天，味觉终于慢慢恢复了。wǒ shēng bìng le hǎo jǐ tiān wèi jué zhōng yú màn màn huī fù le

I was sick for several days, and my sense of taste gradually returned at last.

Core concept

A bodily sensor that detects flavor and separates one taste from another.

Common phrases

  • 失去味觉shī qù wèi jué

    lose sense of taste

  • 恢复味觉huī fù wèi jué

    recover sense of taste

  • 味觉减退wèi jué jiǎn tuì

    reduced sense of taste

Similar words

味道wèi dào: The taste or flavor that food or drink has.
嗅觉xiù jué: The bodily ability to notice and tell apart different smells.
口感kóu gǎn: The feel of food in the mouth while it is being eaten.
口味kǒu wèi: A person's or region's usual preference for certain flavors.

Definition in Chinese

指能感受并分辨食物或其他物质味道的感觉能力。zhǐ néng gǎn shòu bìng fēn biàn shí wù huò qí tā wù zhì wèi dào de gǎn jué néng lì

Word origin

The compound 味 (wèi, "taste") + 觉 (jué, "perceive") combines what is sensed with the act of sensing it.

Usage tips

  • English can use taste for both a flavor and the ability to detect it, while Chinese uses this noun specifically for the bodily ability, which makes descriptions more precise.

Related words

  • 味觉丧失wèi jué sàng shīloss of tastenoun
  • 味觉障碍wèi jué zhàng àitaste disordernoun

Word lists with this word