美食家 (měi shí jiā) — gourmet, food connoisseur

Definition

noun

gourmetfood connoisseur

Measure word · 位

美食家，。
Tā shì yí wèi zhēn zhèng de měi shí jiā, duì gè dì měi shí liǎo rú zhǐ zhǎng.
He is a true gourmet, knows all kinds of regional cuisines like the back of his hand.
美食家。
Zhè wèi měi shí jiā xiě le yì běn guān yú zhōng guó cài de shū.
This gourmet wrote a book about Chinese cuisine.
美食家。
Chéng wéi měi shí jiā xū yào duō nián de pǐn cháng jīng yàn.
Becoming a gourmet requires many years of tasting experience.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

美食delicious food

偏正Modifier + head

美食 means delicious food, and 家 points to an expert, so 美食家 is a gourmet.

Characters in this word

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

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

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

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

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miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢑓

𢑓𢑓家jiā

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

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Appears in