Chinese word

煤

Pronunciation

Pinyinméi

Meaning

  • nouncoal

Example

工厂需要更多的煤来发电。gōng chǎng xū yào gèng duō de méi lái fā diàn

The factory needs more coal to generate electricity.

Illustration for 煤 (coal)

More examples

冬天很多家庭用煤取暖。dōng tiān hěn duō jiā tíng yòng méi qú nuǎn

Many families use coal for heating in winter.

Core concept

Buried plant matter transformed into a dense black substance that serves both as fuel and as an industrial material.

Common phrases

  • 燃煤电厂rán méi diàn chǎng

    coal-fired power plant

  • 煤炭méi tàn

    coal

  • 煤矿méi kuàng

    coal mine

Similar words

煤炭méi tàn: A mineral fuel supplied to power plants and factories for energy production.

Definition in Chinese

一种由古代动植物遗体经地质作用形成的黑色可燃矿物，常作为燃料或工业原料。yì zhǒng yóu gǔ dài dòng zhí wù yí tǐ jīng dì zhì zuò yòng xíng chéng de hēi sè kě rán kuàng wù cháng zuò wéi rán liào huò gōng yè yuán liào

Word origin

煤 (méi, "coal") is formed with 火 (huǒ, "fire") + 某 (móu, "certain"), linking the meaning to burning and the pronunciation to 某.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, this noun often appears within longer compounds, with the surrounding words showing whether the topic is fuel, mining, or another coal-related use.

Opposites

  • 清洁能源qīng jié néng yuánclean energynoun
  • 可再生能源kě zài shēng néng yuánrenewable energynoun

Related words

Word lists with this word