饮用水 (yǐn yòng shuǐ) — drinking water, potable water | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Water intended for drinking, whether tap, filtered, or bottled — the safe-to-drink category. 自来水 is specifically municipal tap water; 淡水 contrasts with seawater, not with this.

noun

drinking waterpotable water

Measure word · 杯

Examples

饮用水。
Chū mén qián bié wàng le dài yì píng yǐn yòng shuǐ.
Don't forget to bring a bottle of drinking water before going out.
饮用水，。
Zhè zhǒng yǐn yòng shuǐ kě yǐ zhí jiē hē, bú yòng jiā rè.
This kind of drinking water can be drunk directly without heating.
饮用水。
Gōng sī de yǐn yòng shuǐ zhì liàng měi tiān dōu yào jiǎn chá.
The quality of the company's drinking water is checked every day.

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.

饮用drink

饮yǐndrink用yònguse

联合Coordinate

饮用 names drinking and 水 names water, so the word means water for drinking.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飲; 饮 is its simplified writing.

酉酉yǒubottle (of alcoholic beverages)
人人rénperson
口口kǒumouth (occasionally with the tongue protruding)

The traditional form 飲 drew a person bending over a bottle to drink, with a mouth and droplets; this picture is about 飲, not the simplified 饮.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

用 was formed by adding a handle to an earlier form.

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Beverages

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