饱餐 (bǎo cān) — to eat one's fill; to feast (on something) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A separable verb meaning to eat heartily until full, often with a celebratory or indulgent flavor (e.g. 饱餐一顿). Note the split: 饱餐一顿, not *饱一顿餐.

verb

to eat one's fillto feast (on something)

Examples

，饱餐。
Jīn tiān gōng zuò hěn lèi, wǎn shàng wǒ yào hǎo hǎo bǎo cān yí dùn.
I'm very tired from work today; tonight I'm going to have a hearty meal.
饱餐。
Tā men zài yì jiā gāo jí cān tīng bǎo cān le yí dùn.
They feasted at a high-end restaurant.
饱餐，。
Tā bǎo cān le suǒ yǒu de cài, fēi cháng mǎn zú.
He ate his fill of all the dishes and felt very satisfied.

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.

饱 means full and 餐 means eat; the result is eating until full.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飽; 饱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shífood

Sound part声符shēngfú

包

包bāo飽bǎo

Same sound today

The traditional form 飽 uses 食 to mark food/eating and 包 for the sound.

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

𣦼食餐

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.”

Appears in

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