戒酒 (jiè jiǔ) — to quit drinking, to abstain from alcohol | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

戒酒 means to quit drinking alcohol — a deliberate, often health-driven act. 戒 highlights the effort of giving up a habit, like 戒烟 (quit smoking), not a temporary pause.

verb

to quit drinkingto abstain from alcohol

Examples

戒酒。
Tā jué dìng cóng míng tiān kāi shǐ jiè jiǔ.
He decided to start quitting drinking tomorrow.
，。
Yī shēng ràng tā jiè le jiǔ, dàn tā méi jiān chí duō jiǔ.
The doctor told him to quit drinking, but he didn't stick with it long.
，戒酒。
Wèi le jiàn kāng, wǒ dǎ suàn jiè jiǔ bàn nián.
For my health, I plan to quit drinking for six months.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

戒jièquit/abstain

酒jiǔalcohol

戒 quit/abstain and 酒 alcohol together mean to abstain from alcohol.

Characters in this word

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

戈廾戒

戈戈gēhalberd
廾廾gǒnghands

戒 shows 廾 (hands) and 戈 (a halberd) together: hands holding up a weapon as a warning.

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

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.

Appears in

Alcohol & Tobacco

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