饮食 (yǐn shí) — diet; food and drink | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

饮食 covers both food and drink together as a category, often with a focus on habits or health (as in 注意饮食). 餐饮 is the more formal/service-industry term for food and beverage.

noun

dietfood and drink

Examples

饮食。
Tā de yǐn shí hěn jiàn kāng.
His diet is very healthy.
饮食。
Wǒ zuì jìn kāi shǐ zhù yì yǐn shí.
I recently started paying attention to my diet.
饮食。
Bù tóng de wén huà yǒu bù tóng de yǐn shí.
Different cultures have different food and drink.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

饮 and 食 name drinking and eating, together covering food and drink.

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.

酉酉yǒubottle (of alcoholic beverages)
人人rénperson
口口kǒumouth (occasionally with the tongue protruding)

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.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Food (General)

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