饯行 (jiàn háng) — to give a farewell dinner (for someone)

Definition

饯行 is a more formal, written-style verb for hosting a farewell dinner or banquet for someone who is about to leave. Everyday speech usually prefers the lighter 送行.

verb
to give a farewell dinner (for someone)

Examples

  • 饯行。
    Jīn wǎn wǒ men yì qǐ wèi nǐ jiàn háng.
    Tonight we'll give a farewell dinner together for you.
  • 饯行。
    Gōng sī wèi tuì xiū de lǎo wáng jǔ xíng le jiàn háng yàn.
    The company held a farewell dinner for retired Lao Wang.
  • ，饯行。
    Míng tiān jiù yào zǒu le, péng you men zhǔn bèi gěi wǒ jiàn háng.
    I'm leaving tomorrow, so my friends are planning a farewell dinner for me.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

饯jiàngive farewell dinner
行xíngjourney

“饯” is giving a send-off meal, and “行” is the departure.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 餞; 饯 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
食食shíhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
戔
戔jiān餞⁰jiàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 餞 uses 食 for the meaning and 戔 for the sound; the simplified 饯 is a later shorthand.

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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