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午饭 (wǔ fàn) — lunch

Definition

午饭 is the everyday word for 'lunch' — pairs naturally with 吃 (吃午饭) and uses measure words 顿 or 份. 早餐/晚餐 mark the day's other two meals; 午餐 is the more formal/written version of 午饭.

noun
lunch
Measure word · 份, 顿, 次, 餐

Examples

  • 午饭。
    Wǒ zhōng wǔ chī wǔ fàn.
    I eat lunch at noon.
  • 午饭？
    Nǐ chī wǔ fàn le ma?
    Have you eaten lunch?
  • 午饭。
    wǔ fàn Hěn hǎo chī.
    The lunch is very delicious.

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.

午wǔnoon
饭fànmeal

“午” refers to noon, and “饭” refers to a meal, giving the midday meal.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 午 comes from a drawing of a pestle, a heavy tool used for pounding.

Open 午 →

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.

Open 饭 →
Appears in
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