开饭 (kāi fàn) — to start a meal, to serve a meal (of a meal bei…

Definition

开饭 (kāifàn) means a meal is ready to be eaten or has started being served — used as a set phrase, not a literal 'open + rice'. A host or family uses it to call everyone to eat.

verb

to start a mealto serve a meal (of a meal being ready)

Examples

开饭，。
Yǐ jīng kāi fàn le, dà jiā kuài zuò hǎo.
The meal is ready, everyone sit down quickly.
开饭。
Wǒ men děng bà ba huí lái zài kāi fàn.
Let's wait for Dad to come back before starting the meal.
。
Jīn tiān zhōng wǔ jiā lǐ kāi le liǎng cì fàn.
We had two meal services at home today at noon.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

开kāistart

饭fànmeal

开 means 'start', 饭 means 'meal', together 'start the meal'.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

門一廾開

門門méndoor
一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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