油絵

あぶらえ · aburae · JLPT N1 · noun

oil painting

🎨 油 (oil) + 絵 (painting) = a painting made with oil paint

油 is read abura and means oil, so the first sound of aburae matches the word for oil. 絵 means painting, so the whole word names a painting done in oil paint.

油 — water radical 氵 + 由 (yóu, phonetic)
油 is a phono-semantic compound. The 氵 radical signals a liquid, while 由 supplies the sound. Originally referring to a river name, it was extended to mean oil or fat — any thick, flowing liquid — which became its dominant modern sense.

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