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

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yuèwángtóu

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄝˋ ㄨㄤˊ ㄊㄡˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyut⁶ wong⁴ tau⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yuèwángtóu
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄝˋ ㄨㄤˊ ㄊㄡˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yuèwángtóu
    • Wade–Giles: yüeh⁴-wang²-tʻou²
    • Yale: ywè-wáng-tóu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuehwangtour
    • Palladius: юэвантоу (juevantou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛ⁵¹ wɑŋ³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyut⁶ wong⁴ tau⁴
    • Yale: yuht wòhng tàuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyt⁹ wong⁴ tau⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yud⁶ wong⁴ teo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːt̚² wɔːŋ²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹/

Noun

越王頭

1. (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.]
     赠以越王头，还同月支首，割鲜为饮器，津浆若美酒。 [MSC, simp.]

     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 usage example)