烏賊 / 乌贼
wūzéi
The English word "squid" is translated into Mandarin as 烏賊 / 乌贼 (wūzéi) or 魷魚 / 鱿鱼.
Meaning: sea animal (noun)
Ways to say it
| Mandarin | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 烏賊 / 乌贼 | wūzéi |
| 魷魚 / 鱿鱼 | yóuyú |
Both terms refer to the sea animal known as a squid, but they are used in different contexts.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 烏賊 / 乌贼 literally means "black thief", which refers to the dark color of the animal and its habit of using ink to escape.
Which one should you use?
烏賊 / 乌贼 is the formal or biological term used for scientific contexts or technical descriptions. In contrast, 魷魚 / 鱿鱼 is the term used in everyday life, such as when ordering food.
How do you pronounce it?
wūzéi
Did you know?
- In Chinese culture, the ink produced by the 烏賊 / 乌贼 was historically prized for calligraphy and painting, leading to the animal being associated with scholarly art.
- While 魷魚 / 鱿鱼 is used for food, the character 魷 is a variant of a word that originally meant 'to be delayed' or 'to linger', likely describing the animal's movement.
- The character 烏 / 乌 used in the formal name for squid is also the same character used to describe a 'crow', linking the animal's dark ink to the color of the bird.
Examples in context
- 我想点一份鱿鱼炒饭。I would like to order a plate of squid fried rice.
- 请问您有没有鱿鱼汤？Excuse me, do you have squid soup?
- 我们今晚打算吃点鱿鱼圈。We plan to have some squid rings tonight.
- 好久没吃到好吃的鱿鱼圈了。It's been a while since I had delicious squid rings.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “squid” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
