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主食 (zhǔ shí) — staple food

Definition

主食 refers to the main starchy food in a meal (rice, noodles, bread) — the dish you eat to get full, as opposed to side dishes (菜). 粮食 is the broader category of food grains in general.

noun
staple food
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • ，主食。
    Zài zhōng guó, mǐ fàn shì nán fāng rén de zhǔ shí.
    In China, rice is the staple food for southerners.
  • 主食。
    Běi fāng rén cháng bǎ miàn tiáo dàng zuò zhǔ shí.
    Northerners often take noodles as their staple food.
  • 主食。
    Zhè jiā cān tīng de zhǔ shí kě yǐ miǎn fèi xù jiā.
    The staple food at this restaurant can be refilled for free.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

主zhǔmain
食shífood

主 means main and 食 means food, making the main food.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5

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