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礼拜 (lǐ bài) — religious service (especially Christian worship); (colloquial) week; Sunday (as a day of the week)

Definition

礼拜 has two unrelated meanings: the formal 'religious service / worship' (mostly Christian), and the everyday colloquial 'week' or 'Sunday' (as in 下个礼拜 'next week'). The time meaning is spoken Chinese — use 星期 in formal contexts.

noun
religious service (especially Christian worship)(colloquial) weekSunday (as a day of the week)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Tā men měi gè xīng qī tiān dōu qù jiào táng zuò lǐ bài.
    They go to church every Sunday to attend a religious service.
  • 礼拜。
    Xià gè lǐ bài wǒ dǎ suàn qù běi jīng chū chāi.
    I plan to go to Beijing on a business trip next week.
  • 礼拜，。
    Jīn tiān shì lǐ bài, nǐ bú yòng shàng bān.
    Today is Sunday; you don't need to go to work.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

礼lǐritual
拜bàiworship

礼 means ritual and 拜 means bowing in worship; together they refer to religious service and, by extension, the weekly day.

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
礻Written in full as示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ禮lǐ
Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

Open 礼 →

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

拜 combines 扌 (hand, written fully as 手) with 𠦪 (herbs), showing a hand holding herbs as a gift.

Open 拜 →
Appears in
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