肉桂

Chinese

		meat; flesh	Cinnamomum cassia; Guangxi Autonomous Region (abbrev.)
simp. and trad. (肉桂)		肉	桂

Etymology

From Chinese 肉 ("meat") + 桂 ("gui tree"), to distinguish the cassia and cinnamon trees of the laurel family from the 桂花, the osmanthus of the olive family (all having formerly been known as 桂).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ròuguì

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄡˋ ㄍㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): juk⁶ gwai³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngiuk-kui
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): lio̍k-kùi / jio̍k-kùi

  (Teochew, Peng'im): nêg⁸ gui³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ròuguì
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄡˋ ㄍㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ròuguèi
    • Wade–Giles: jou⁴-kuei⁴
    • Yale: ròu-gwèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: rowguey
    • Palladius: жоугуй (žouguj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐoʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ku̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: juk⁶ gwai³
    • Yale: yuhk gwai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: juk⁹ gwai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yug⁶ guei³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jʊk̚² kʷɐi̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiuk-kui
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngiug^ˋ gui
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngiug⁵ gui⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯uk̚² ku̯i⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lio̍k-kùi
    • Tâi-lô: lio̍k-kuì
    • Phofsit Daibuun: liogkuix
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /liɔk̚⁴⁻³² kui¹¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /liɔk̚⁴⁻³² kui²¹/
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jio̍k-kùi
    • Tâi-lô: jio̍k-kuì
    • Phofsit Daibuun: jiogkuix
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /ziɔk̚⁴⁻³² kui²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: nêg⁸ gui³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ne̍k kùi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nek̚⁴⁻² kui²¹³/

Noun

肉桂

1. cassia (the Chinese cinnamon Cinnamomum cassia)
2. cassia bark (herb used in traditional Chinese medicine for various ailments)
3. related members of the genus Cinnamomum, such as true cinnamon (C. verum), Indonesian cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanni), and Vietnamese cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi)
4. bark of such trees

Synonyms

• (cassia): 木桂, 菌桂, 箘桂

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (肉桂):

• → Japanese: 肉桂(にっけい) (nikkei)
• → Korean: 육계(肉桂) (yukgye)
• → Vietnamese: nhục quế (肉桂)

References

• “肉桂”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
肉	桂
にく > にっ Grade: 2	けい Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にっけー [nìkkéé] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) にっけー [níꜜkkèè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ik̚ke̞ː]

Noun

肉(にっ)桂(けい) or 肉桂(ニッケイ) • (nikkei) ^{←にくけい (nikukei)?}

1. Cinnamomum sieboldii, a species of cinnamon
2. cinnamon, a general term for trees of genus Cinnamomum

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).

Derived terms

• 藪肉桂(ヤブニッケイ) (yabu nikkei)

See also

• シナモン (shinamon)

References

• “肉^▲桂”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

Korean

Hanja in this term
肉	桂

Noun

肉桂 • (yukgye) (hangeul 육계)

1. hanja form^? of 육계 (“Cinnamomum cassia”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
肉	桂

Noun

肉桂

1. chữ Hán form of nhục quế (“Cinnamomum cassia”)