衣食父母 (yī shí fù mǔ) — those on whom one's livelihood depends (e.g., customers, patrons, supporters)

Definition

Literally 'food-and-clothing parents': not real parents, but the people who provide your livelihood (customers, patrons, audience). A formal, literary idiom used to emphasize how much you depend on them.

idiom
those on whom one's livelihood depends (e.g., customers, patrons, supporters)

Examples

  • 衣食父母，。
    Gù kè jiù shì wǒ men de yī shí fù mǔ, yí dìng yào fú wù hǎo.
    Customers are our livelihood — we must serve them well.
  • ，衣食父母。
    Zuò wéi yǎn yuán, guān zhòng jiù shì tā de yī shí fù mǔ.
    As an actor, the audience is his livelihood.
  • 衣食父母，。
    Méi yǒu zhè xiē yī shí fù mǔ, gōng sī zǎo jiù dǎo bì le.
    Without these patrons, the company would have gone bankrupt long ago.

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.

衣食clothing and food
衣yīclothing食shífood
联合Side by side
父母father and mother
父fùfather母mǔmother
联合Side by side

衣食 and 父母 combine to picture those who provide clothing and food like parents.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

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

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →

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

The shape 父 shows a hand holding a stone blade, referring to a man working with a stone axe.

Open 父 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 母 →

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