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菜肴 (cài yáo) — dish, course (at a meal)

Definition

菜肴 is a formal, written word for prepared dishes, especially as a category in a meal — more literary than the everyday 菜. 佳肴 is a near-synonym that emphasizes delicious, fine food.

noun
dishcourse (at a meal)
Measure word · 道

Examples

  • 菜肴，。
    Jīn tiān de cài yáo hěn fēng shèng, yǒu yú yǒu ròu.
    Today's dishes are abundant — there are fish and meat.
  • 菜肴。
    Zhè dào cài yáo shì shī fu de ná shǒu cài.
    This is the master chef's specialty dish.
  • 肴。
    Tā xué zuò cài yáo yǐ jīng yǒu shí nián le.
    He has been learning to cook dishes for ten years already.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

菜càidish
肴yáocooked meat

菜 means dish or vegetable, and 肴 means cooked meat or dish, so the word names food dishes.

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cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi菜cài
Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Open 菜 →

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo肴yáo
Same sound today

肴 uses 爻 for the sound yáo and ⺼ (肉) for meat, so the character shows meat dishes.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Food (General)

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