欢宴 (huān yàn) — joyful banquet, feast

Definition

A formal, celebratory banquet (盛大欢宴). Compared with 宴会, it emphasizes the joyful, festive atmosphere rather than a neutral gathering.

noun
joyful banquetfeast
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 欢宴。
    Tā men wèi guì bīn jǔ xíng le shèng dà de huān yàn.
    They held a grand banquet for the distinguished guests.
  • 欢宴。
    Zhè chǎng huān yàn chí xù dào shēn yè.
    This feast lasted late into the night.
  • 欢宴，。
    huān yàn Shàng, dà jiā jǔ bēi gòng yǐn.
    At the banquet, everyone raised their glasses and drank together.

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.

欢huānjoyful
宴yànfeast

欢 adds joy, and 宴 denotes a feast, so the word means a joyful banquet.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 歡; 欢 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
欠欠qiàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn歡huān
Same sound today

The traditional form 歡 uses 雚 for the sound and 欠 for the meaning; the simplified 欢 is a later shorthand, so its parts do not carry that history.

Open 欢 →

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
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
妟
妟yàn宴
Same sound today

宴 has 宀, a roof, above 妟, which shows a woman and the sun. 妟 also supplies the sound, and the whole shape pictures a woman under a roof with sunlight.

Open 宴 →

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