食客 (shí kè) — restaurant customer, diner; (historical) depend…

Definition

Two senses: the modern one is a diner or restaurant customer; the historical one is a hanger-on kept by a noble for advice and support.

noun

restaurant customerdiner(historical) dependent advisor or hanger-on on an aristocrat

Measure word · 位

食客，。
Zhè jiā cān tīng de shí kè hěn duō, zhōu mò jīng cháng yào pái duì.
This restaurant has many customers; on weekends there's often a queue.
食客，。
Tā xiàng gǔ dài de shí kè yí yàng, kào bié rén de zī zhù shēng huó.
He lives off other people's support, like a feudal hanger-on.
食客，。
Nà ge lì shǐ jù lǐ yǎng le xǔ duō shí kè, wèi tā chū móu huà cè.
In that historical drama, he kept many dependent advisors who gave him counsel.

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.

“食” (eating) and “客” (guest) combine to mean a guest who eats, a diner.

Characters in this word

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.

宀各客

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

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