kau3蔻
Jyutpingkau3
Yalekau
Definition
Nutmeg; plants of the nutmeg family (Myristicaceae).
neutralfood
How it's used
The character 蔻 is almost exclusively encountered in the compound 肉蔻 when referring to the spice nutmeg. It is a literary character that rarely appears in isolation in modern spoken Cantonese. You will mostly see it on ingredient labels or in traditional Chinese medicine contexts.
Examples
This soup has a little bit of nutmeg added to it.
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse 蔻 with 豆 because they share a similar visual component, but they are completely unrelated in meaning and pronunciation.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
