黄瓜

The Chinese word 黄瓜 (huángguā) for cucumber is a compound word consisting of two characters: 黄 (huáng), meaning "yellow", and 瓜 (guā), meaning "melon". The word 黄瓜 is therefore literally translated as "yellow melon". This name likely originated from the fact that cucumbers are often yellow when ripe, although there are also green varieties.The earliest known written record of the word 黄瓜 dates back to the 3rd century BC, when it was used in the book 尔雅 (Erya), a Chinese dictionary. In this book, 黄瓜 is listed as one of the many types of melons that were grown in China at the time.Over time, the word 黄瓜 has come to be used exclusively for cucumbers, and it is now the most common word for this vegetable in Chinese. The word 黄瓜 is also used in other languages, such as Japanese (きゅうり, kyūri) and Korean (오이, oi).