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餐巾 (cān jīn) — table napkin, serviette

Definition

noun
table napkinserviette
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 餐巾。
    Qǐng bǎ cān jīn fàng zài zhuō zi shàng.
    Please put the napkin on the table.
  • 餐巾。
    Tā yòng cān jīn cā le cā zuǐ.
    He wiped his mouth with a napkin.
  • 餐巾。
    Jiǔ diàn tí gōng miǎn fèi de cān jīn.
    The hotel provides free napkins.

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.

餐cānmeal
巾jīncloth

餐 means meal and 巾 means cloth; together they describe a cloth used at meals.

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
食食shíto eat; meal; food
Sound part声符shēngfú
𣦼
𣦼𣦼餐cān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

餐 combines 食, meaning food or eating, with 𣦼 as the sound part; it originally meant “to swallow.”

Open 餐 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 巾 is a picture of a piece of cloth hanging down.

Open 巾 →
Appears in
Kitchenware & Tableware

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