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茶水 (chá shuǐ) — tea (as a beverage, ready to drink); boiled water prepared for making tea

Definition

茶水 usually means 'tea ready to drink' — the drink itself. It can also mean the hot water used to brew tea, especially in office or meeting settings like 会议室.

noun
tea (as a beverage, ready to drink)boiled water prepared for making tea
Measure word · 杯

Examples

  • ，茶水。
    Fú wù yuán, qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi chá shuǐ.
    Waiter, please bring me a cup of tea.
  • 茶水，。
    Huì yì shì lǐ yǒu chá shuǐ, kě yǐ zì jǐ dǎo.
    There is tea/boiled water in the meeting room; you can help yourself.
  • 茶水。
    Tā měi tiān shàng bān qián dōu huì xiān pào yì bēi chá shuǐ.
    He always makes a cup of tea before going to work every day.

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.

茶chátea
水shuǐwater

茶 (tea) and 水 (water) combine to mean water for tea or tea as a drink.

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú茶chá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 茶, the 艹 part marks a plant, and the 余 part gives the sound.

Open 茶 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →
Appears in
Beverages

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