斋 (zhāi) — vegetarian food, especially as a religious practice; study, studio, or writing room; (Buddhist or Taoist) to fast or purify oneself
Definition
A bound form covering two main ideas: (1) vegetarian food or religious fasting/purification, (2) a room for study or practice (书斋 'study', 斋堂 'dining hall'). Always attaches to another word, e.g. 吃斋, 斋戒, 斋月.
bound form
vegetarian food, especially as a religious practicestudystudioor writing room(Buddhist or Taoist) to fast or purify oneself
Examples
- 斋，。Tā měi zhōu wǔ dōu chī zhāi, yǐ jīng jiān chí le shí nián.She eats vegetarian every Friday and has kept it up for ten years.
- ，。Lǎo xiān sheng zài shū zhāi lǐ xiě zì huà huà, cóng bú ràng rén dǎ rǎo.The old gentleman writes and paints in his study, never letting anyone disturb him.
- 。Xìn tú zài jié rì qī jiān bì xū zhāi jiè sān tiān.Believers must fast for three days during the festival.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 齋; 斋 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
齊
齊qí齋zhāi
Same sound today
The traditional form 齋 pairs 示 (deity) with 齊 as a sound part; the simplified 斋 is a shorthand.
Appears in
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