剩饭 (shèng fàn) — leftover food; leftovers | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Leftover rice or food from a previous meal — typically reheated or repurposed, as in the example 妈妈用剩饭做了一锅粥. Often paired with 剩菜 in everyday speech.

noun

leftover foodleftovers

Measure word · 顿

Examples

剩饭。
Wǒ bǎ shèng fàn fàng zài bīng xiāng lǐ le.
I put the leftover food in the fridge.
剩饭。
Zhè xiē shèng fàn rè yi rè hái néng chī.
These leftovers can still be eaten after reheating.
剩饭。
Mā ma yòng shèng fàn zuò le yì guō zhōu.
Mom made a pot of porridge using leftover food.

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.

剩shèngleft over

「剩」 means left over and 「饭」 means food, giving food that remains.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

乘

乘chéng剩shèng

Same sound today

剩 is made of 刀 (knife) as the meaning part and 乘 (chéng) as the sound part.

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 飯; 饭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shífood

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

反fǎn飯fàn

Same sound today

The traditional form 飯 combines 食 (food) with 反 for the sound; the simplified 饭 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical form.

Appears in

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