<p>TL;DR - As a consumer in a Chinese-speaking land, I would be expecting the kernel of a sweet varietal of apricot, <em>Prunus armeniaca</em>.</p>
<p>Permit me to bring in some botany! Plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and almonds, as defined in general Western groceries in English-speaking countries (let us ignore the sloe for now), are <em>all</em> species of <em>Prunus</em>, a genus of drupe-bearing trees in the rose family. The Latin for &quot;plum&quot; gives the genus its scientific name.</p>
<p>李、桃、杏、梅、樱 are all base terms in Chinese for various <em>Prunus</em> species too (let us ignore the commercially less important 橉木). They do not correspond one-to-one with English terms.</p>
<p>Chinese 杏 is sharply distinguished in English: the apricot <em>Prunus armeniaca</em>, cultivated for its fruit, is linguistically differentiated from the almond <em>Prunus dulcis</em> (syn. <em>Prunus amygdalus</em>), cultivated for its kernel as a culinary nut (its fruit is edible, and is commercially cultivated, but in a very minor way in Anglophone countries). The bitter almond is a cultivar <em>Prunus dulcis</em> var. <em>amara</em>, whereas the majority of the world's current (as of 2024) almond production is chanelled into sweet almond production, <em>Prunus dulcis</em> var. <em>dulcis</em>, and is thus the &quot;default&quot; almond.</p>
<p>With modern Chinese agriculture producing both products (although as nations they are generally net importers of both agricultural products), there are ways to distinguish almonds from apricots in modern Chinese. Modern genetic taxonomy <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5144968/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">generally sees the almond as closer to the peach</a> than to the apricot; this is reflected in the choice of 扁桃 for the almond, although that could be to do with its Persian roots in the word ادام (<em>bâdâm</em>), which has a more direct transliteration <a href="https://www.zhzyw.com/sg/dq/14121616498GD330HBDJ8A42.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">巴旦木</a>. It is thus not surprising that 扁桃 retains a jargonistic tone to it, and that it is not commonly used for the almond.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, across Chinese culture, 杏仁 apricot kernels, of <em>Prunus armeniaca</em>, have been major agricultural products in a way that <a href="https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1046" rel="nofollow noreferrer">almond kernels were not</a> until relatively recently (almond plantations in Xinjiang were commercialised only in the 2010s). Apricot kernels do indeed come in sweet and bitter varieties, which as with almonds is related to amygdalin concentrations. Both are commercially sold, 甜杏仁 or 南杏 (the latter being somewhat of a Cantonese-ism) being the sweet apricot kernel and 苦杏仁 or 北杏 (ibid.) being the bitter apricot kernel. It is also not unheard of for the sweet variety to be eaten as a snack, and for both to be used in <a href="https://www.zhzyw.com/zycs/zycd/x/096510ED74E8CI72BC9KA6H.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">traditional Chinese medicine</a>. There are many a website (e.g. <a href="https://www.roots-foods.com/blogs/apricot-kernel-milk-knowledge/155479" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this company based in Yunlin, Taiwan</a>) that distinguishes the three; and there have been a few American websites that have reported on the relationship <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-20-fo-almondside20-story.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">between the four of them</a>, in relation to the lack of availability of bitter almond oil.</p>
<hr />
<p>Note this confusion of botanical semantic fields goes the other way too. 梅 and 李 are generally conflated into English &quot;plum&quot;. To distinguish them, the 梅 <em>Prunus mume</em> is often given the moniker &quot;Chinese plum&quot; or &quot;Japanese plum&quot;. However, the 梅 is not commercially produced in Western English-speaking countries and holds little commercial or cultural value in those nations, in great contrast to East Asia. Thus the distinction is rarely made.</p>
<p>Genetic studies seem to classify 梅 closer to the &quot;apricot&quot; <em>Prunus armeniaca</em>, hence <a href="https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/prunus-mume/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the more modern name</a> &quot;Japanese (flowering) apricot&quot;. This English name avoids confusion with 李, which in turn has its own confusion, but one that is much more easily resolved. In China 李 generally refers to cultivars of <em>Prunus salicina</em>, whereas &quot;plum&quot; in Britain and in Anglophone North America generally refer to various cultivars of <em>Prunus domestica</em>; however, one can specify e.g. 中国李 vs 欧洲李 vs a varietal like 凤凰李, and likewise in English &quot;Chinese / Japanese plum&quot; vs &quot;European / domestic plum&quot; vs a varietal like &quot;greengage&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T00:59:19.440Z
2024-08-29T00:59:19.440Z
Michaelyus
<p>According to wikipedia:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>但是在日常生活中，「杏仁」這名稱常因地域不同，而有不同的植物種子對應。台灣口語中的「杏仁」，常指的是扁桃的種子（扁桃仁），又稱「杏仁果」，其廣泛作為零食，用於烘培；其油脂可做高級食用油，也是化妝品工業的重要原料[5]。而中國大陸口語中的「杏仁」，則泛指杏、山杏或東北杏的種子（果仁），可以食用或入藥[6]。</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>However, in daily life, &quot;杏仁&quot; often corresponds to different plant seeds depending on the region. &quot;杏仁&quot; in Taiwanese colloquial language often refers to the seeds of almonds (扁桃仁), also known as &quot;杏仁果&quot;. They are widely used as snacks and in baking; their oil can be used as high-grade edible oil and is also an important ingredient in the cosmetics industry. raw materials. In mainland China, “杏仁” in spoken language generally refers to the seeds (果仁) of apricots, mountain apricots or northeastern apricots, which can be eaten or used as medicine.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Do you know the region where this product originated from?</p>
<p>I can't really say anything about 杏仁 specifically since I've never heard of it, so you'll have to trust wikipedia on this one. Regarding the two other questions below, I can't really answer the third one, but I'll try to answer the second one.</p>
<p>Typically there shouldn't be any problem differentiating different meanings of a single word (like 杏仁), the problem mainly comes with homophony with other words. This is why words like 桌子，椅子，鏡子 have 子 after them. They do get dropped when paired with other nouns like 桌布 and 綠帽. It doesn't always have to be 子 too, like 眼睛，as opposed to classical 眼.</p>
<p>Hope this helped!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T05:09:45.107Z
I don't think it's a homophony problem; it's a "what do we call this thing?" problem.  青 for instance, has no clean translation in Eng - it's bluish green, but not quite either, and not cyan either.
pierrecurie
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-27T00:31:00.340Z
2024-08-27T00:31:00.340Z
Tree
<p>if it was whole kernels its most likely almonds, but if it is powder its most likely apricot since its a popular gelatin dessert ingredient. That said it could technically be either as they are considered variations of the same plant ((preparation to remove cyanide is similar as well)).</p>
<p>I recommend looking at the ingredient list on the package ((or adding the package here so we can help investigate)) as its more likely to assist in clarification then the regular package front title.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-28T17:58:32.293Z
2024-08-28T17:58:32.293Z
zagrycha
<p>Almond: 杏仁(扁桃树的果仁)；扁桃仁<br />
Apricot: 杏; 杏子; apricot colour: 杏黄色;杏黄色的</p>
<p>There seems to be some confusion between  杏仁 which are almond nuts, (扁桃树的果仁) and  杏子, which are apricots, whose seeds could also, I suppose, be written as 杏仁，（杏子的果仁）。The confusion most likely stems from AI translations.</p>
<p>Almonds, even bitter almonds, are useful to &quot;reverse the upper Qi&quot; but don't over do it! I never heard of apricot seeds being used in 中医药, but what do I know about that!</p>
<blockquote>
<p>药师说丨药食同源系列之“杏仁”</p>
<p>杏仁，别名杏核仁、杏子、木落子、苦杏仁、杏梅仁等，有甜杏仁和苦杏仁之区分。</p>
<p>苦杏仁为蔷薇科植物山杏、西伯利亚杏、东北杏或杏的干燥成熟种子。</p>
<p>本草中多云杏仁苦者为药用，且有毒。如《备急千金要方·食治》云杏仁：“味甘、苦、温、冷而利，有毒……扁鹊云杏仁不可久服，令人目盲。”《饮膳正要》云：“杏仁有毒，主咳逆上气。”《随息居饮食谱》：“杏，……其核中仁，味苦入药，不堪食。”</p>
<p>近代《药材资料汇编》分别收录有苦杏仁和甜杏仁，指出其“尖”和“皮”均有毒，故药用时去“尖”脱“皮”，称为光杏仁。</p>
<p>甜杏仁，各地认识不统一，根据各地方炮制规范记载，来源于蔷薇科植物杏或山杏的部分栽培种味甜的干燥种子。</p>
<p>本草中的甜杏仁单独列出来较晚，《本草便读》指出杏仁有苦和甜两种，指出“甜者因味属甘平，用之则功多润降”而与味苦者不同。其在目录“杏仁”条下又列有“甜杏仁”，云其为“别有一种，味甘性平，可供果食”。</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T05:02:14.950Z
I think the confusion predates AI translation.  As you pointed out, 杏 can refer to either apricot/almond.  仁 refers to seed, while 子 refers to fruit.
pierrecurie
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T05:24:20.580Z
From a person more botanical than I: 杏仁是杏的种子，其位于杏的果核中。扁桃（学名：Prunus amygdalus 英语：  almond (tree))  扁桃仁就是 almonds. (the things we eat). Who eats apricot kernels?
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-29T05:32:36.880Z
Apparently the Chinese eat apricot kernels.  Maybe in the future, people will start using 扁桃 more often to refer to almonds.
pierrecurie
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-27T05:13:23.020Z
2024-08-27T05:13:23.020Z
Pedroski
<p>We recently bought a bag of 杏仁 powder, but the Eng ingredient list says &quot;apricot kernel&quot;.  Is this most likely a translation issue, or is it really apricot kernel?</p>
<p>For further context, looking at the ingredient list, most of the bag is sugar/corn starch/other filler.  It is likely intended to be a dessert, and there is nothing to indicate it is medicinal in nature.</p>
<p>I ask because both almond/apricot kernel come in sweet/bitter varieties.  The bitter varieties of both are rather high in amygdalin, which is toxic (the sweet varieties also have amygdalin, but not enough to matter).  Google is full of warnings about &quot;apricot kernel&quot; (with few references to sweet/bitter) being toxic/fake cancer cure, but there also seems to be large numbers of people that eat it as a snack anyway...</p>
<ol>
<li>Is 杏仁 more likely to be almond or apricot kernel?</li>
<li>Bonus question: why did Chinese not create new word(s) to differentiate these things?  ChatGPT says almonds can be called 扁桃仁, but I've never heard that used before.</li>
<li>Bonus question2: what are your experiences with eating 杏仁 products?  Has it ever mattered whether they were almond/apricot kernel?  Ever had toxicity issues?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-27T01:29:12.747Z
First two questions are fine and good; the last (number three) is off-topic.
Admirer of the dragon flag
<translation><food>
Is 杏仁 more likely to be almond or apricot kernel?
# Is 杏仁 more likely to be almond or apricot kernel?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-26)

We recently bought a bag of 杏仁 powder, but the Eng ingredient list says "apricot kernel". Is this most likely a translation issue, or is it really apricot kernel?

For further context, looking at the ingredient list, most of the bag is sugar/corn starch/other filler. It is likely intended to be a dessert, and there is nothing to indicate it is medicinal in nature.

I ask because both almond/apricot kernel come in sweet/bitter varieties. The bitter varieties of both are rather high in amygdalin, which is toxic (the sweet varieties also have amygdalin, but not enough to matter). Google is full of warnings about "apricot kernel" (with few references to sweet/bitter) being toxic/fake cancer cure, but there also seems to be large numbers of people that eat it as a snack anyway...

1. Is 杏仁 more likely to be almond or apricot kernel?
2. Bonus question: why did Chinese not create new word(s) to differentiate these things? ChatGPT says almonds can be called 扁桃仁, but I've never heard that used before.
3. Bonus question2: what are your experiences with eating 杏仁 products? Has it ever mattered whether they were almond/apricot kernel? Ever had toxicity issues?

**Tags:** translation, food

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: First two questions are fine and good; the last (number three) is off-topic.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-08-29. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

TL;DR - As a consumer in a Chinese-speaking land, I would be expecting the kernel of a sweet varietal of apricot, *Prunus armeniaca*.

Permit me to bring in some botany! Plums, cherries, peaches, apricots and almonds, as defined in general Western groceries in English-speaking countries (let us ignore the sloe for now), are *all* species of *Prunus*, a genus of drupe-bearing trees in the rose family. The Latin for "plum" gives the genus its scientific name.

李、桃、杏、梅、樱 are all base terms in Chinese for various *Prunus* species too (let us ignore the commercially less important 橉木). They do not correspond one-to-one with English terms.

Chinese 杏 is sharply distinguished in English: the apricot *Prunus armeniaca*, cultivated for its fruit, is linguistically differentiated from the almond *Prunus dulcis* (syn. *Prunus amygdalus*), cultivated for its kernel as a culinary nut (its fruit is edible, and is commercially cultivated, but in a very minor way in Anglophone countries). The bitter almond is a cultivar *Prunus dulcis* var. *amara*, whereas the majority of the world's current (as of 2024) almond production is chanelled into sweet almond production, *Prunus dulcis* var. *dulcis*, and is thus the "default" almond.

With modern Chinese agriculture producing both products (although as nations they are generally net importers of both agricultural products), there are ways to distinguish almonds from apricots in modern Chinese. Modern genetic taxonomy [generally sees the almond as closer to the peach](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5144968/) than to the apricot; this is reflected in the choice of 扁桃 for the almond, although that could be to do with its Persian roots in the word ادام (*bâdâm*), which has a more direct transliteration [巴旦木](https://www.zhzyw.com/sg/dq/14121616498GD330HBDJ8A42.html). It is thus not surprising that 扁桃 retains a jargonistic tone to it, and that it is not commonly used for the almond.

Nonetheless, across Chinese culture, 杏仁 apricot kernels, of *Prunus armeniaca*, have been major agricultural products in a way that [almond kernels were not](https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1046) until relatively recently (almond plantations in Xinjiang were commercialised only in the 2010s). Apricot kernels do indeed come in sweet and bitter varieties, which as with almonds is related to amygdalin concentrations. Both are commercially sold, 甜杏仁 or 南杏 (the latter being somewhat of a Cantonese-ism) being the sweet apricot kernel and 苦杏仁 or 北杏 (ibid.) being the bitter apricot kernel. It is also not unheard of for the sweet variety to be eaten as a snack, and for both to be used in [traditional Chinese medicine](https://www.zhzyw.com/zycs/zycd/x/096510ED74E8CI72BC9KA6H.html). There are many a website (e.g. [this company based in Yunlin, Taiwan](https://www.roots-foods.com/blogs/apricot-kernel-milk-knowledge/155479)) that distinguishes the three; and there have been a few American websites that have reported on the relationship [between the four of them](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-20-fo-almondside20-story.html), in relation to the lack of availability of bitter almond oil.

---

Note this confusion of botanical semantic fields goes the other way too. 梅 and 李 are generally conflated into English "plum". To distinguish them, the 梅 *Prunus mume* is often given the moniker "Chinese plum" or "Japanese plum". However, the 梅 is not commercially produced in Western English-speaking countries and holds little commercial or cultural value in those nations, in great contrast to East Asia. Thus the distinction is rarely made.

Genetic studies seem to classify 梅 closer to the "apricot" *Prunus armeniaca*, hence [the more modern name](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/prunus-mume/) "Japanese (flowering) apricot". This English name avoids confusion with 李, which in turn has its own confusion, but one that is much more easily resolved. In China 李 generally refers to cultivars of *Prunus salicina*, whereas "plum" in Britain and in Anglophone North America generally refer to various cultivars of *Prunus domestica*; however, one can specify e.g. 中国李 vs 欧洲李 vs a varietal like 凤凰李, and likewise in English "Chinese / Japanese plum" vs "European / domestic plum" vs a varietal like "greengage".


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-08-27. Score: 3

According to wikipedia:

> 但是在日常生活中，「杏仁」這名稱常因地域不同，而有不同的植物種子對應。台灣口語中的「杏仁」，常指的是扁桃的種子（扁桃仁），又稱「杏仁果」，其廣泛作為零食，用於烘培；其油脂可做高級食用油，也是化妝品工業的重要原料[5]。而中國大陸口語中的「杏仁」，則泛指杏、山杏或東北杏的種子（果仁），可以食用或入藥[6]。

> However, in daily life, "杏仁" often corresponds to different plant seeds depending on the region. "杏仁" in Taiwanese colloquial language often refers to the seeds of almonds (扁桃仁), also known as "杏仁果". They are widely used as snacks and in baking; their oil can be used as high-grade edible oil and is also an important ingredient in the cosmetics industry. raw materials. In mainland China, “杏仁” in spoken language generally refers to the seeds (果仁) of apricots, mountain apricots or northeastern apricots, which can be eaten or used as medicine.

Do you know the region where this product originated from?

I can't really say anything about 杏仁 specifically since I've never heard of it, so you'll have to trust wikipedia on this one. Regarding the two other questions below, I can't really answer the third one, but I'll try to answer the second one.

Typically there shouldn't be any problem differentiating different meanings of a single word (like 杏仁), the problem mainly comes with homophony with other words. This is why words like 桌子，椅子，鏡子 have 子 after them. They do get dropped when paired with other nouns like 桌布 and 綠帽. It doesn't always have to be 子 too, like 眼睛，as opposed to classical 眼.

Hope this helped!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I don't think it's a homophony problem; it's a "what do we call this thing?" problem.  青 for instance, has no clean translation in Eng - it's bluish green, but not quite either, and not cyan either.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-08-28. Score: 1

if it was whole kernels its most likely almonds, but if it is powder its most likely apricot since its a popular gelatin dessert ingredient. That said it could technically be either as they are considered variations of the same plant ((preparation to remove cyanide is similar as well)).

I recommend looking at the ingredient list on the package ((or adding the package here so we can help investigate)) as its more likely to assist in clarification then the regular package front title.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-08-27. Score: 0

Almond: 杏仁(扁桃树的果仁)；扁桃仁  
Apricot: 杏; 杏子; apricot colour: 杏黄色;杏黄色的

There seems to be some confusion between 杏仁 which are almond nuts, (扁桃树的果仁) and 杏子, which are apricots, whose seeds could also, I suppose, be written as 杏仁，（杏子的果仁）。The confusion most likely stems from AI translations.

Almonds, even bitter almonds, are useful to "reverse the upper Qi" but don't over do it! I never heard of apricot seeds being used in 中医药, but what do I know about that!

> 药师说丨药食同源系列之“杏仁”
>
> 杏仁，别名杏核仁、杏子、木落子、苦杏仁、杏梅仁等，有甜杏仁和苦杏仁之区分。
>
> 苦杏仁为蔷薇科植物山杏、西伯利亚杏、东北杏或杏的干燥成熟种子。
>
> 本草中多云杏仁苦者为药用，且有毒。如《备急千金要方·食治》云杏仁：“味甘、苦、温、冷而利，有毒……扁鹊云杏仁不可久服，令人目盲。”《饮膳正要》云：“杏仁有毒，主咳逆上气。”《随息居饮食谱》：“杏，……其核中仁，味苦入药，不堪食。”
>
> 近代《药材资料汇编》分别收录有苦杏仁和甜杏仁，指出其“尖”和“皮”均有毒，故药用时去“尖”脱“皮”，称为光杏仁。
>
> 甜杏仁，各地认识不统一，根据各地方炮制规范记载，来源于蔷薇科植物杏或山杏的部分栽培种味甜的干燥种子。
>
> 本草中的甜杏仁单独列出来较晚，《本草便读》指出杏仁有苦和甜两种，指出“甜者因味属甘平，用之则功多润降”而与味苦者不同。其在目录“杏仁”条下又列有“甜杏仁”，云其为“别有一种，味甘性平，可供果食”。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think the confusion predates AI translation.  As you pointed out, 杏 can refer to either apricot/almond.  仁 refers to seed, while 子 refers to fruit.  
> **username_5**: From a person more botanical than I: 杏仁是杏的种子，其位于杏的果核中。扁桃（学名：Prunus amygdalus 英语：  almond (tree))  扁桃仁就是 almonds. (the things we eat). Who eats apricot kernels?  
> **username_0**: Apparently the Chinese eat apricot kernels.  Maybe in the future, people will start using 扁桃 more often to refer to almonds.  

---

