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柜台 (guì tái) — sales counter, front desk, bar (a long table or surface for serving customers); (attributive) over-the-counter (of medicines, used in compounds like 柜台药)

Definition

柜台 is the 'counter' or 'front desk' in a shop, hotel, or bank — the surface you walk up to for transactions. Use 前台 specifically for a hotel's reception desk; 专柜 is a branded or specialty counter within a store.

noun
sales counterfront deskbar (a long table or surface for serving customers)(attributive) over-the-counter (of medicines, used in compounds like 柜台药)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 柜台，。
    Tā zài guì tái fù le qián, ná zhe dōng xī zǒu le.
    She paid at the counter and left with the items.
  • ，柜台。
    Nín hǎo, rù zhù shǒu xù qǐng dào guì tái bàn lǐ.
    Hello, please go to the front desk to check in.
  • 柜台，。
    Zhè zhǒng gǎn mào yào shì guì tái yào, bù xū yào yī shēng chǔ fāng.
    This cold medicine is an over-the-counter drug; no prescription is needed.

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.

柜guìcabinet
台táitable

柜 (cabinet) and 台 (table) together form a sales counter or front desk.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
巨
巨jù柜
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

柜 combines 木 (tree) with 巨, which gives the sound.

Open 柜 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 5Business & CommerceFurniture

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