燕窝 (yàn wō) — edible bird's nest (delicacy used in Chinese cuisine)

Definition

A prized Chinese delicacy made from swiftlet nests, served as soup or in dishes and valued in skincare and banquet cuisine. Unlike ordinary food, it is a luxury ingredient — expect to talk about it in terms of 品质 and 价格.

noun
edible bird's nest (delicacy used in Chinese cuisine)

Examples

  • 燕窝，。
    Zhè zhǒng yàn wō pǐn zhì hěn hǎo, jià gé bú pián yi.
    This kind of edible bird's nest is of good quality and not cheap.
  • 燕窝。
    Tā měi tiān hē yì wǎn yàn wō tāng lái bǎo yǎng pí fū.
    She drinks a bowl of bird's nest soup every day to maintain her skin.
  • ，燕窝。
    Zài yàn huì shàng, yàn wō shì yí dào fēi cháng míng guì de cài.
    At banquets, edible bird's nest is a very precious dish.

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.

燕yànswallow
窝wōnest

Swallow and nest combine to name the edible nest of swiftlets.

Characters in this word

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

燕 comes from a picture of a swallow.

Open 燕 →

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 窩; 窝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
穴穴xuécave
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi窩wō
Same sound today

The traditional form 窩 uses 穴, a cave, for meaning and 咼 for sound; the simplified 窝 is a later shorthand.

Open 窝 →

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