消夜 (xiāo yè) — late-night snack, midnight snack | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A late-night snack eaten for pleasure, usually after dinner or before bed — a casual treat, not a regular meal.

noun

late-night snackmidnight snack

Examples

消夜。
Wǒ men kàn wán diàn yǐng qù chī xiāo yè ba.
Let's go have a late-night snack after the movie.
消夜。
Tā měi tiān wǎn shàng dōu yào chī yì diǎn xiāo yè.
He has a little late-night snack every evening.
消夜，。
Zhè jiā diàn de xiāo yè hěn yǒu míng, hěn duō rén lái pái duì.
This shop's late-night snacks are famous; many people come and line up.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

消xiāospend or consume

消 the 夜, spending the night with food; hence a midnight snack.

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.

氵肖消

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

肖

肖xiào消xiāo

Same sound today

消 has 氵 (water) beside 肖. The water part connects to putting out or making something vanish, and 肖 gives the sound.

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

夕夕xīmoon

Sound part声符shēngfú

亦

亦yì夜yè

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

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

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