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餐车 (cān chē) — (on a train) dining car; (roadside) diner; food truck

Definition

noun
(on a train) dining car(roadside) dinerfood truck
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 餐车，。
    Zhè liè huǒ chē hòu miàn yǒu yì jié cān chē, chéng kè kě yǐ guò qù yòng cān.
    This train has a dining car at the back; passengers can go there to eat.
  • 餐车，。
    Nà tiáo jiē shàng xīn kāi le yì jiā cān chē, zhuān mén mài hàn bǎo hé shǔ tiáo.
    A new diner opened on that street, specializing in burgers and fries.
  • ，餐车。
    Cháng tú lǚ xíng shí, wǒ xí guàn zài cān chē lǐ diǎn yì bēi kā fēi.
    On long trips, I usually order a coffee in the dining car.

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.

餐cānmeal
车chēvehicle

餐 means food or dining, and 车 means vehicle; together they name a car for meals.

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
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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →
Appears in
Dining & RestaurantsVehicles

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