接风 (jiē fēng) — to host a welcome dinner for a returning traveler or visitor

Definition

A fixed phrase meaning to host a welcome dinner (or reception) for someone returning from a trip or arriving from afar. Often used as 给人接风 or 接风洗尘.

verb
to host a welcome dinner for a returning traveler or visitor

Examples

  • 接风。
    Wǒ men míng tiān wǎn shàng gěi gāng cóng měi guó huí lái de tóng shì jiē fēng.
    We'll host a welcome dinner tomorrow evening for the colleague who just returned from the US.
  • ，。
    Zhè cì chū chāi huí lái, péng you men wèi nǐ jiē le yí cì fēng.
    This time when you came back from the business trip, your friends threw you a welcome dinner.
  • ，接风。
    Kè rén yuǎn dào ér lái, zán men dé hǎo hǎo jiē fēng.
    The guests have come from afar — we must give them a proper welcome dinner.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

接jiēreceive
风fēngwind

接 receive the wind 风 of a traveler, hence host a welcome meal.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
妾
妾qiè接jiē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

Open 接 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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