TongTong
Sign in

忌口 (jì kǒu) — to abstain from certain foods (especially when ill or on a diet); to avoid certain foods

Definition

忌口 means to avoid or abstain from certain foods, usually because of illness, a diet, or a doctor's advice. Unlike 忌讳 (a cultural/superstitious taboo), it is a practical, health-related dietary restriction.

verb
to abstain from certain foods (especially when ill or on a diet)to avoid certain foods

Examples

  • 忌口。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ jì kǒu yí gè yuè.
    The doctor advised me to avoid certain foods for a month.
  • 忌口？
    Nǐ jì kǒu nǎ xiē shí wù?
    Which foods are you avoiding?
  • ，忌口。
    Wèi le jiàn kāng, tā jué dìng jì kǒu.
    For his health, he decided to avoid certain foods.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

忌jìavoid
口kǒumouth

忌 (“avoid”) plus 口 (“mouth”) expresses avoiding food or drink.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ忌jì
Same sound today

忌 combines 己, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart, as the part connected to the meaning.

Open 忌 →

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Open 口 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.