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小菜 (xiǎo cài) — (noun) pickled vegetables; side dish (often served with rice); (noun) common dish of meat, fish, or vegetables (served alongside staple food); (noun, colloquial) easy task; something simple

Definition

Literally 'small dishes' — the everyday side dishes or pickles served with rice or congee, and by extension, colloquially, anything 'a piece of cake' (easy task).

noun
pickled vegetablesside dish (often served with rice)common dish of meatfishor vegetables (served alongside staple food)(noun, colloquial) easy tasksomething simple
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小菜。
    Tā měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu chī yì wǎn zhōu pèi yì dié xiǎo cài.
    He eats a bowl of congee with a dish of pickled vegetables every morning.
  • 小菜，。
    Jīn tiān de wǔ fàn yǒu sì gè xiǎo cài, yí gè tāng.
    Today's lunch has four side dishes and one soup.
  • 小菜，。
    Zhè ge biān chéng tí duì tā lái shuō jiù shì xiǎo cài, shí fēn zhōng jiù xiě wán le.
    This programming problem was a piece of cake for him; he finished writing it in ten minutes.

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.

小xiǎosmall
菜càidish

A small dish or side vegetable dish, also used for an easy task.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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 →
Appears in
Food (General)Vegetables

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