夜餐 (yè cān) — midnight supper or late-night snack

Definition

noun

midnight supper or late-night snack

Measure word · 顿

，夜餐。
Tā gōng zuò dào hěn wǎn, chī le yí fèn jiǎn dān de yè cān.
He worked late and had a simple midnight snack.
夜餐，。
Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn tí gōng miǎn fèi yè cān, cóng wǎn shàng shí diǎn dào líng chén liǎng diǎn.
This hotel offers a free midnight supper from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
，夜餐。
Áo yè de shí hou, chī tài duō yè cān duì wèi bù hǎo.
When staying up late, eating too much midnight snack is bad for the stomach.

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.

夜 gives night, and 餐 gives meal, meaning a late-night snack.

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

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

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.”