野食 (yě shí) — food gathered from the wild; foraged food; (figurative) extra or irregular income; side earnings

Definition

Literally 'wild food' (野食) — food foraged from nature, as opposed to farmed or bought. Figuratively, it means irregular extra income on the side of one's main job.

noun
food gathered from the wildforaged food(figurative) extra or irregular incomeside earnings

Examples

  • 野食。
    Tā zài sēn lín lǐ zhǎo yě shí chī.
    He looks for wild food in the forest to eat.
  • 野食。
    Tā zuò xiē jiān zhí zhèng diǎn yě shí.
    He does some part-time jobs to earn extra income.
  • ，野食。
    Tā zhè fèn gōng zuò bú suàn zhèng shì, zhǐ néng suàn yě shí.
    This job of his isn't regular; it can only be considered extra income.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

野yěwild
食shífood

野 is wild and 食 is food, so the term names food gathered from the wild.

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
予
予yǔ野yě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

野 combines 田 (field) above 土 (earth) to show open country, with 予 giving the sound.

Open 野 →

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

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

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.

Open 食 →

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