膳 (shàn) — (bound form) meals, food (used in formal compounds)
Definition
A formal, bound-form word for 'meals' or 'food', almost always appearing in set compounds like 膳食, 用膳, or 药膳. Never used alone in everyday speech — say 饭 instead.
bound form
mealsfood (used in formal compounds)
Examples
- 。Zhè jiā cān tīng de shàn shí hěn jiàn kāng.This restaurant's meals are very healthy.
- 膳。Zhōng yī tuī jiàn chī yào shàn lái tiáo lǐ shēn tǐ.Traditional Chinese medicine recommends eating herbal cuisine to regulate the body.
- 。Huáng dì zài gōng diàn lǐ yòng shàn.The emperor dined in the palace.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
The left part ⺼ (full form 肉) relates to meat or flesh, and the right part 善 provides the sound.
Appears in
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