礼拜日 (lǐ bài rì) — Sunday | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

礼拜日 is a colloquial Mainland way to say 'Sunday,' a shortened blend of 礼拜 (week) + 日 (day). 周日 and 星期日 are the more neutral, standard terms.

noun

Sunday

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.

礼拜ceremony and worship

礼lǐceremony拜bàiworship

联合Side by side

Sunday is the 日 for 礼 and 拜, a day of ceremony and worship, not just generic worship.

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

礻豊禮

Meaning part形符xíngfú

礻Written in full as示shìaltar

Sound part声符shēngfú

豊

豊lǐ禮lǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

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

拜 combines 扌 (hand, written fully as 手) with 𠦪 (herbs), showing a hand holding herbs as a gift.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.