炊事 (chuī shì) — cooking, kitchen work (formal or institutional context)

Definition

Formal/institutional word for 'cooking' and kitchen work, typically in military, school, or company settings — not everyday home cooking. Pairs with 工作 or 部门, as in 炊事工作.

noun
cookingkitchen work (formal or institutional context)

Examples

  • 炊事。
    Tā zài bù duì lǐ fù zé chuī shì gōng zuò.
    He is responsible for kitchen work in the military.
  • 炊事。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī de chuī shì bù mén yǒu shí gè rén.
    This company's kitchen department has ten people.
  • 炊事。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù duì chuī shì hěn gǎn xìng qù.
    She has been interested in cooking since she was young.

Origin

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.

炊chuīcook
事shìwork

炊 names cooking and 事 names work, so together they mean kitchen work.

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
吹
吹chuī炊chuī
Same sound today

炊 puts 火 (fire) next to 吹, which supplies the sound; the fire part points to cooking.

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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