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筵席 (yán xí) — (formal) banquet, feast; (historical) mat used as a seat at a banquet

Definition

A formal, literary word for a large banquet or feast, more elevated than everyday 宴会. Historically also refers to the mat guests sat on at such a gathering (as in the third example).

noun
(formal) banquetfeast(historical) mat used as a seat at a banquet

Examples

  • ，筵席。
    Hūn lǐ jié shù hòu, bīn kè men cān jiā le fēng shèng de yán xí.
    After the wedding ceremony, the guests attended a lavish banquet.
  • 筵席，。
    Zhè chǎng yán xí bǎi le èr shí zhuō cài, fēi cháng qì pài.
    This feast had twenty tables of dishes — truly impressive.
  • 筵席，。
    Gǔ rén zuò zài yán xí shàng yǐn jiǔ fù shī, qì fen shí fēn yǎ zhì.
    Ancient people sat on mats, drinking wine and composing poems — the atmosphere was very elegant.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

筵yánmat
席xímat

Both 筵 and 席 refer to seating mats, together naming a 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
延
延yán筵yán
Same sound today

筵 has 竹, a bamboo form, above 延, which gives the sound.

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

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Open 席 →
Appears in
Dining & Restaurants

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