残羹 (cán gēng) — (literary, noun) leftover food, remnants of a m…

Definition

Literary, set-phrase noun for scraps left after a banquet — almost always paired with 剩饭 as 残羹剩饭 to mean the most meager leftovers.

noun

(literary, noun) leftover foodremnants of a meal

。
Tā zhǐ néng kào yì xiē cán gēng shèng fàn dù rì.
He could only survive on scraps of leftover food.
，残羹。
Yàn xí jié shù hòu, zhuō shàng quán shì cán gēng.
After the banquet ended, the table was covered with leftovers.
残羹，。
Fù rén diū diào de cán gēng, qióng rén què qiú zhī bù dé.
The leftovers that the rich throw away are what the poor desperately need.

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.

残cánleftover

残 means leftover or remnant, and 羹 refers to soup or food, together describing uneaten food from a 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殘; 残 is its simplified writing.

歹戔殘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

歹歹dǎivicious, bones

Sound part声符shēngfú

戔

戔jiān殘cán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 殘 pairs 歹, a bone shape for injury, with 戔 for its sound; the simplified 残 is a later shorthand.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.