膏
fat, grease, lard, paste, ointment, plaster
Readings
On'yomi
- コウ
Kun'yomi
- あぶら
Meaning
膏 centers on thick, oily substances used for lubrication, nourishment, or medicinal application: fat, grease, lard, paste, ointment, and plaster all share this dense, spreadable quality.
Most common words using 膏
20 of 24- 軟膏なんこう
ointment; salve
- 石膏せっこう
plaster; gypsum; calcium sulphate (sulfate)
- 絆創膏ばんそうこう
adhesive bandage; sticking plaster; band-aid
- オロナイン軟膏オロナインなんこう
Oronine H Ointment
- 二股膏薬ふたまたこうやく
double-dealer; timeserver; moving back and forth between two sides in a conflict
- 亜鉛華軟膏あえんかなんこう
zinc oxide ointment
- 内股膏薬うちまたこうやく
double-dealer; fence-sitter; timeserver; moving back and forth between two sides in a conflict; duplicity; turncoat
- 受膏者じゅこうしゃ
anointed one
- 按摩膏あんまこう
massaging plaster
- 焼石膏しょうせっこう
calcined gypsum; plaster of Paris
- 理屈と膏薬はどこへでもつくりくつとこうやくはどこへでもつく
one can give a plausible argument for anything
- 病膏肓に入るやまいこうこうにいる
to become seriously ill; to catch an incurable illness
- 眼軟膏がんなんこう
eye ointment
- 石膏像せっこうぞう
plaster figure; plaster bust
- 硬石膏こうせっこう
anhydrite
- 硬膏こうこう
plaster (type of bandage)
- 股座膏薬またぐらごうやく
double-dealer; timeserver; moving back and forth between two sides in a conflict
- 膏沃こうよく
fertile soil; fertile land; fertility
- 膏肓こうこう
innermost part of the body (where a disease cannot be treated)
- 膏腴こうゆ
fertile soil; fertile land; fertility
Study
Etymology
膏 combines 高 (tall, high) with 月 (flesh/meat), suggesting the rich, fatty part of meat that rises to the top when cooked. The modern form preserves this idea of concentrated animal fat.
Meaning mnemonic
Picture a tall pot (高) with a layer of congealed fat (月) floating on top. That thick, oily layer is 膏—fat, grease, or ointment.
Reading mnemonic
For コウ, imagine a cook spreading thick grease on a pan: the cook's action cues コウ, and the grease is the 膏 itself.