饮食店 (yǐn shí diàn) — café; snack bar; small eatery

Definition

A small place that sells drinks and light meals — a café or snack bar, smaller and more casual than a 饭店.

noun

cafésnack barsmall eatery

Measure word · 家

饮食店。
Jiē jiǎo nà jiā yǐn shí diàn de kā fēi hěn hǎo hē.
The coffee at that café on the corner is really good.
饮食店。
Wǒ men zài zhè jiā yǐn shí diàn chī le wǔ fàn.
We had lunch at this snack bar.
饮食店，。
Fù jìn yǒu hěn duō yǐn shí diàn, nǐ kě yǐ suí biàn xuǎn yì jiā.
There are many small eateries nearby; you can pick any one.

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.

饮食drinking and eating

联合Side by side

“饮” and “食” are drinking and eating, and “店” is the shop.

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.

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.

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.

广占店

Meaning part形符xíngfú

广广guǎnghouse built to depend on a cliff

Sound part声符shēngfú

占

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

店 shows 广, a house built to depend on a cliff, and 占, which gives the sound.