醋

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vinegar; jealousy (in love rivalry)

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Formation & memory

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Ideographic compound (会意字)

Aged 昔 wine 酉; wine gone sour

Components 酉昔

vinegar · Heisig RSH #2464

whiskey bottle + 昔 times past

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
醋海生波	cù hǎi shēng bō	lit. waves on a sea of vinegar; trouble caused by a jealous woman (idiom)
争风吃醋	zhēng fēng chī cù	to rival sb for the affection of a man or woman; to be jealous of a rival in a love affair
半瓶子醋	bàn píng zi cù	see 半瓶醋[ban4 ping2 cu4]
糖醋鱼	táng cù yú	sweet and sour fish
冰醋酸	bīng cù suān	glacial acetic acid
醋酸纤维	cù suān xiān wéi	cellulose acetate (used for film and fiber)
糖醋肉	táng cù ròu	sweet and sour pork
柴米油盐酱醋茶	chái mǐ yóu yán jiàng cù chá	(lit.) firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea; (fig.) life's daily necessit…
白醋	bái cù	white vinegar; plain vinegar
糖醋里脊	táng cù lǐ jǐ	sweet and sour pork
醋劲儿	cù jìn r	erhua variant of 醋勁\|醋劲[cu4 jin4]
醋意	cù yì	jealousy (in love rivalry)
争锋吃醋	zhēng fēng chī cù	variant of 爭風吃醋\|争风吃醋[zheng1 feng1 chi1 cu4]
红醋栗	hóng cù lì	red currant
米醋	mǐ cù	rice vinegar
香醋	xiāng cù	aromatic vinegar; balsamic vinegar
油盐酱醋	yóu yán jiàng cù	(lit.) oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar (idiom); (fig.) life's daily necessities
醋酸	cù suān	acetic acid (CH3COOH); acetate
黑醋栗	hēi cù lì	blackcurrant
食醋	shí cù	table vinegar