招待 (zhāo dài) — to entertain, to host, to serve (guests or cust… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

招待 means to host or entertain guests, often with food and drink. It is more formal and welcoming than 服务 (serve customers); 款待 is a more literary near-synonym for the same hospitable sense.

verb

to entertainto hostto serve (guests or customers)

Examples

招待。
Wǒ men rè qíng dì zhāo dài le lái zì gè guó de péng you.
We warmly entertained friends from various countries.
招待。
Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn de fú wù yuán hěn huì zhāo dài kè rén.
The waiters at this hotel are very good at serving guests.
招待。
Tā fù zé zhāo dài jīn tiān de jǐ wèi zhòng yào gù kè.
He is responsible for hosting today's several important customers.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

The 招 idea of inviting guests and the 待 idea of treating them combine to mean offering hospitality.

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.

扌召招

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

召

召zhào招zhāo

Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

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

彳寺待

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彳彳chì

Sound part声符shēngfú

寺

寺sì待dài

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

待 is built from 彳 on the left and 寺 on the right; 彳 is tied to the meaning, and 寺 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Friends & Social

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