留宿 (liú sù) — to put up a guest for the night; to stay overni… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Two-way verb: the host 留宿s a guest for the night, or a traveler 留宿s at a place. Reads as one unit — 留 and 宿 do not split in casual use.

verb

to put up a guest for the nightto stay overnight

Examples

，留宿。
Péng you lái le, wǒ liú sù le tā yì wǎn.
My friend came, and I put him up for the night.
留宿。
Zuó wǎn wǒ zài tóng xué jiā liú sù.
Last night I stayed overnight at my classmate's place.
留宿。
Zhè jiā lǚ guǎn kě yǐ liú sù sān shí wèi kè rén.
This hotel can put up thirty guests.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

留 and 宿 both involve staying or lodging, so the word means to stay overnight or put someone up for the night.

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

田田tiánfield

Sound part声符shēngfú

卯

卯mǎo留liú

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

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

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

人人rénperson
囗囗wéibamboo mat

The shape comes from an old drawing of 人, a person, resting on a mat.

Appears in

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