胶

膠
jiāo
#2,165 most
frequent character
to glue, glue, gum, rubber

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

胶 jiāo combines 月 meat with 交 jiāo as sound part. Animal hide and body parts point to the original sticky substance made by boiling hides and horns. Later it meant sticky, then glue, then rubber.

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Homophones

HSK 3
教jiāo
to teach
HSK 5
浇jiāo
to pour liquid, to irrigate (using waterwheel)
焦jiāo
anxious

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