膏

膏 · gāo

grease, fat; paste, ointment

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

grease, fat; paste, ointment

Mandarin
gāo
Cantonese
gou1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 膏 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

コウ

Kun’yomi · hiragana

あぶらこえる

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

コウ あぶら こえる

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

고

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
고
KS X 1001 (0) · Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

고:0N

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

cao

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

cao

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+818F
Radical
肉 · 130
Strokes
14 · Unihan
Residual
10

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

14 strokes
膏
Strokes
14
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

14 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿳{87}口⺝(GHJKP)
⿳{87}口⺼(T)
⿱高月(V)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 膏

Character connections

No reverse component match in this collection.

Component roles · attributed

Source analyses, kept separate from modern IDS. CJKVI labels are not individually verified historical conclusions. Evidence & limits ↗

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
kaw · 古勞 反切 · #707
Middle Chinese
kawH · 古到 反切 · #2809

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 5716 · kaw = 效開一平豪見 · kawH = 效開一去豪見

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
gāo
kCantonese
gou1
kDefinition
grease, fat; paste, ointment
kTotalStrokes
14
kRSUnicode
130.10
kGradeLevel
5
kTGH
2013:3142

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
gāo,gào 32103.080
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
gāo 0366.010 · gào 0367.160
Tongyong Guifan · 2013
gāo 108.160 · gào 109.150
Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
gāo粵gou1 gào粵gou3
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 膏 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
47dictionary records using 膏0forms using this shape1attributed sound links

A complete parsed description is unavailable for this endpoint. It is not assumed to be an indivisible unit.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 47 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿳{87}口⺝$(GHJKP) · preserved, not fully parsed

^⿳{87}口⺼$(T) · preserved, not fully parsed

^⿱高月$(V)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.