饮酒 (yǐn jiǔ) — to drink alcohol (formal/literary)

Definition

Formal or literary way to say 'drink alcohol,' mostly seen in writing, health advice, or polite speech — not casual conversation.

verb

to drink alcohol (formal/literary)

饮酒。
Yī shēng jiàn yì shǎo yǐn jiǔ.
The doctor advises drinking less alcohol.
，饮酒。
Zài zhèng shì chǎng hé, rén men xí guàn yǐn jiǔ.
People tend to drink alcohol in formal settings.
。
Tā shàng ge yuè yǐn guò jǐ cì jiǔ.
He drank alcohol a few times last month.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

饮 means drink and 酒 is liquor, so the word denotes drinking liquor.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飲; 饮 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 飲 drew a person bending over a bottle to drink, with a mouth and droplets; this picture is about 飲, not the simplified 饮.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

酉

酉yǒu酒jiǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.

Appears in