配餐 (pèi cān) — a prepared meal set or catering package (for airlines, hospitals, workplaces, etc.)

Definition

配餐 means a pre-arranged meal set (airline tray, hospital diet, workplace lunch) — chosen to fit a need, not a restaurant order. Pairs naturally with 提供, 定制, 订购.

noun
a prepared meal set or catering package (for airlines, hospitals, workplaces, etc.)
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • 配餐。
    Zhè jiā háng kōng gōng sī tí gōng de pèi cān fēi cháng fēng fù.
    The meals provided by this airline are very rich.
  • 配餐。
    Yī yuàn wèi bìng rén tè bié dìng zhì le yíng yǎng pèi cān.
    The hospital customizes nutritional meal sets for patients.
  • 配餐，。
    Chǎng lǐ tǒng yī dìng gòu le wǔ cān pèi cān, měi tiān sòng dào chē jiān.
    The factory ordered lunch packages uniformly, delivered to the workshop every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

配pèicombine
餐cānmeal

配 means to combine or allocate and 餐 means a meal, so the word is about prepared meals.

Characters in this word

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

  • 酉酉yǒualcohol vessel
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

配 is formed by putting 酉, an alcohol vessel, next to 卩, a kneeling person. The reference gives these two parts, but not the reason they combine.

Open 配 →

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
食食shíto eat; meal; food
Sound part声符shēngfú
𣦼
𣦼𣦼餐cān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

餐 combines 食, meaning food or eating, with 𣦼 as the sound part; it originally meant “to swallow.”

Open 餐 →

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