冷菜 (lěng cài) — cold dish (appetizer or side dish served cold, common in Chinese cuisine)

Definition

A 'cold dish' served at the start of a Chinese meal, before the 热菜 (hot dishes). Contrast with 凉菜 — same food category; 冷菜 is the more formal menu/restaurant term.

noun
cold dish (appetizer or side dish served cold, common in Chinese cuisine)
Measure word · 道

Examples

  • 冷菜。
    Zhè jiā cān tīng de lěng cài wèi dào hěn hǎo.
    The cold dishes at this restaurant taste great.
  • 冷菜。
    Tā diǎn le sān gè lěng cài hé liǎng gè rè cài.
    He ordered three cold dishes and two hot dishes.
  • 冷菜。
    lěng cài Yì bān zài rè cài zhī qián shàng zhuō.
    Cold dishes are usually served before hot dishes.

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.

冷lěngcold
菜càidish

冷 indicates served cold, and 菜 means dish, so a cold dish.

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
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng冷lěng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi菜cài
Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Open 菜 →

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