发酵

• Pinyin: fā jiào
• Hanzi breakdown: 发 = 弓 + 殳 — to produce, give rise to; 酵 = 酉 (wine vessel/fermentation vessel) + 孝 (filial piety/phonetic) — the action within a fermentation vessel, biochemical transformation

Meaning

To ferment; to undergo fermentation. Also figurative: (of a situation, idea, or emotion) to develop gradually and intensify over time.

Literal use in food science, brewing, and biology. The figurative sense — describing how an incident, sentiment, or story 'ferments' and grows — is extremely common in modern Chinese journalism and social media commentary.

Examples

1. 这款传统米酒采用古法工艺，需要经过至少三十天的自然发酵才能达到最佳风味与酒精浓度。 This traditional rice wine is made with an old-fashioned process and needs at least thirty days of natural fermentation to reach its best flavor and alcohol level.
2. 那条视频最初只有少量观看，但在几个主流平台的推送下，舆论迅速发酵，最终引发了全社会对劳动者权益保护问题的广泛讨论。 The video initially drew only a small number of views, but after being promoted on several major platforms, public opinion quickly snowballed and ultimately sparked a society-wide discussion about protecting workers’ rights.
3. 面团经过充分发酵后，体积会显著膨胀，内部形成均匀的气孔结构，烘焙后的口感也会更加松软。 After the dough has fully fermented, it will expand noticeably and form an even network of air pockets, and the baked texture will be much softer.

Usage Guide

Context: food, science, media, social commentary

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 消费纠纷在社交媒体上持续发酵，最终演变成舆论风暴。(The consumer dispute kept fermenting on social media and eventually became a public-opinion storm.)
• 酿造师傅解释说，优质葡萄酒的品质在很大程度上取决于发酵阶段温度与湿度的精准控制，任何细微的偏差都可能导致最终风味产生明显差异。(The master brewer explained that the quality of fine wine depends to a large extent on precise control of temperature and humidity during the fermentation stage, and that even minor deviations can cause noticeable differences in the final flavour profile.)

Don't Say

• 面包发酵好了很膨胀 — 膨胀 is too technical/scientific to stand alone as a predicate adjective here; say 面包发酵后体积明显增大 or 面团发酵充分，已经涨发均匀 for natural culinary description

Origin & History

发 (to give rise to/develop) + 酵 (fermentation/yeast action) — to undergo the process of fermentation

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal