就餐 (jiù cān) — to dine (formal) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

就餐 (jiùcān) means 'to dine' in a formal setting — more written and ceremonious than 用餐, and unlike 聚餐 it has no sense of gathering a group.

verb

to dine (formal)

Examples

就餐。
Zài zhè jiā cān tīng jiù cān shì yì zhǒng xiǎng shòu.
Dining at this restaurant is a pleasure.
就餐。
Wǒ men yǐ jīng yù dìng le jiù cān de wèi zhì.
We have already reserved a spot for dining.
就餐。
Qǐng suí wǒ dào èr lóu jiù cān.
Please follow me to the second floor to dine.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

就jiùgo to

餐cānmeal

就 means to go to and 餐 means meal, naming the act of dining.

Characters in this word

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

享享xiǎng
京京jīng

An older form paired 享, a temple, with 京, a tower, showing sacrifice at a high place; in 就 the temple part was dropped and a right part for going upward was added.

Open 就 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

𣦼食餐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shíto eat; meal; food

Sound part声符shēngfú

𣦼

𣦼𣦼餐cān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

餐 combines 食, meaning food or eating, with 𣦼 as the sound part; it originally meant “to swallow.”

Open 餐 →

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