Chinese word

颜料

Pronunciation

Pinyinyán liào

Meaning

  • nounpigment

Example

这些颜料干得很快。zhè xiē yán liào gàn de hěn kuài

These pigments dry very fast.

Illustration for 颜料 (pigment)

More examples

请把红色的颜料拿来。qǐng bǎ hóng sè de yán liào ná lái

Please bring the red paint.

Core concept

Usable color held in a substance ready to be spread over a surface.

Common phrases

  • 水彩颜料shuí cǎi yán liào

    watercolor paint

  • 油画颜料yóu huà yán liào

    oil paint

  • 颜料盒yán liào hé

    paint box

Similar words

染料rǎn liào: A substance absorbed by cloth, paper, or another material to change its color throughout.
涂料tú liào: A surface-coating material that dries into a film and adds color or protection.

Definition in Chinese

用于给物体表面提供颜色的物料，通常指与粘结剂或载体配合以固定色彩的着色成分。yòng yú gěi wù tǐ biǎo miàn tí gōng yán sè de wù liào tōng cháng zhǐ yǔ nián jié jì huò zài tǐ pèi hé yǐ gù dìng sè cǎi de zhuó sè chéng fèn

Word origin

颜 (yán, "color or appearance") originally relates to appearance, while 料 (liào, "material") means material, giving the compound its sense of a color-providing material.

Usage tips

  • For surfaces whose fibers absorb color, Chinese often uses a different term from this one, so this word is not the general default for textile dyeing.

Other meanings

  • paintnoun
  • colorantnoun

Related words

  • 颜料盒yán liào hépaint boxnoun

Word lists with this word