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喜酒 (xǐ jiǔ) — wedding feast; wedding banquet; (the) liquor drunk at a wedding

Definition

喜酒 (xǐjiǔ) is the wedding banquet itself, and by extension the liquor served at it (喝喜酒 = 'attend a wedding feast'). Compared to 喜事 ('happy occasion, wedding' in general), 喜酒 is specifically about the meal and the drinks.

noun
wedding feastwedding banquet(the) liquor drunk at a wedding
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • ，喜酒。
    Tā xià ge yuè jié hūn, wǒ men zhǔn bèi qù hē tā de xǐ jiǔ.
    He's getting married next month; we're going to attend his wedding feast.
  • 喜酒，。
    Zhè píng xǐ jiǔ shì wǒ tè yì wèi nǐ men zhǔn bèi de, zhù nǐ men xìng fú.
    This bottle of wedding liquor is specially prepared for you — wish you happiness.
  • 喜酒，。
    Hē xǐ jiǔ de shí hou, xīn niáng hé xīn láng huì lái jìng jiǔ.
    During the wedding feast, the bride and groom will come to toast the guests.

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.

喜xǐwedding joy
酒jiǔwine

The wedding joy named by 喜 specifies the wine called 酒, drunk at such a feast.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

Open 喜 →

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
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
酉
酉yǒu酒jiǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.

Open 酒 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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