Chinese word

米

Pronunciation

Pinyinmǐ

Meaning

  • nounrice

Example

超市里有新鲜的米。chāo shì lǐ yǒu xīn xiān de mǐ

There is fresh rice in the supermarket.

Illustration for 米 (rice)

More examples

市场里很多人在排队买米。shì chǎng lǐ hěn duō rén zài pái duì mǎi mǐ

Many people are lining up to buy rice at the market.

Core concept

A basic unit seen as separate grains in food and as equal lengths in measured space.

Common phrases

  • 买米mǎi mǐ

    buy rice

  • 一袋米yí dài mǐ

    a bag of rice

Similar words

饭fàn: A meal or the everyday act of eating.
米饭mǐ fàn: White rice that has been cooked and is ready to eat.
大米dà mǐ: Uncooked white rice in the form commonly sold for cooking.

Definition in Chinese

指稻谷脱壳后可供食用的谷物，通常指用于煮饭的生米；口语中也常作长度单位“米”（公制长度单位）的简称。zhǐ dào gǔ tuō ké hòu kě gōng shí yòng de gǔ wù tōng cháng zhǐ yòng yú zhǔ fàn de shēng mǐ kóu yǔ zhōng yě cháng zuò cháng dù dān wèi mǐ gōng zhì cháng dù dān wèi de jiǎn chēng

Word origin

The grain sense is ancient: 米 (mǐ, "rice") depicts separate grains, while the length sense arose when the Chinese metric name 米突 (mǐtū, "metre") was shortened.

Usage tips

  • In height talk, a number followed by this word can use a compact spoken form, so 1.8 metres may sound like "one metre eight" rather than a full decimal expression in Chinese.

Other meanings

  • meternoun

Related words

Word lists with this word