越王頭
Chinese
to exceed; to climb over; to surpass to exceed; to climb over; to surpass; the more ... the more | king; Wang (proper name) | head; (noun suffix) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (越王頭) | 越 | 王 | 頭 | |
simp. (越王头) | 越 | 王 | 头 | |
Literally: “head of the Prince of Yue (an ancient kingdom or geographic designation)”. |
Etymology
The name derives from a myth recorded in the Nanfang Caomu Zhuang (《南方草木狀》) from the Western Jin Dynasty, which relates the appearance of the coconut to a prince of Yue decapitated by a rival prince of Linyi (林邑). The Compendium of Materia Medica disregards the story as fantastical but records the name as a folk designation.
Pronunciation
Noun
越王頭
- (obsolete) Alternative name for 椰子 (yēzi, “coconut”).
- 贈以越王頭,還同月支首,割鮮為飲器,津漿若美酒。 [MSC, trad.]
- From: Song dynasty, 梅堯臣 (Mei Yaochen), 李獻甫於南海魏侍郎得椰子見遺
- Zèng yǐ Yuèwáng tóu, huán tóng Yuèzhī shǒu, gēxiān wèi yǐnqì, jīn jiāng ruò měijiǔ. [Pinyin]
- (please add an English translation of this example)
赠以越王头,还同月支首,割鲜为饮器,津浆若美酒。 [MSC, simp.]