源etymfun
About

Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

飲食男女

/in²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɻ̩³⁵ nän³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
desire for food and sex; basic human needs; natural disposition of mankind
  • 饮食男女
Post Share

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow
Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

The phrase describes the fundamental human pursuits of sustenance and companionship found in the natural order of life.
The phrase describes the fundamental human pursuits of sustenance and companionship found in the natural order of life.

Origin

The phrase 飲食男女 is from the Book of Rites. It is formed by combining the characters 飲 (to drink), 食 (to eat; to have a meal; to take in), 男 (man; male), and 女 (woman; female).

The character 飲 consists of the phonetic component 酓 (bitter) and several components including 酉 (an alcoholic drink vessel), 人 (man; person; people), 欠 (to lack; to be deficient), and 口 (mouth). The character 食 is composed of 亼 (mouth) and 皀 (prepared food, a vessel full of food). The component 亼 is further formed from 入 (to enter; to go into) and 一 (one). The character 男 is formed from 田 (farmland) and 力 (physical strength; physical power; energy).

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

此詞由「飲」、「食」、「男」、「女」四個字組成。其中「飲」字包含表示酒器之「酉」、表示苦味的音符「酓」、表示人的「人」、表示缺乏之「欠」，以及表示口部的「口」。「食」字則由「亼」與「皀」組成，其中「亼」包含「一」與「入」，而「皀」代表盛滿食物的器皿。

在性別組成方面，「男」字由「田」與「力」組成；「女」字則作為構成此詞的另一個字。這四個字共同構成了描述人類自然本能與基本生存需求的詞彙。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese飲 “to drink”
    • ideaChinese酉 “an alcoholic drink vessel”
    • soundChinese酓 “bitter”
    • ideaChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
    • meaningChinese欠 “to lack; to be deficient”
    • ideaChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”
  • characterChinese食 “to eat; to have a meal; to take in”
    • ideaChinese亼 “mouth”
      • ideaChinese入 “to enter; to go into”
      • ideaChinese一 “one”
    • ideaChinese皀 “Prepared food, a vessel full of food (as in 即 and 既, in which is simplified)”
  • characterChinese男 “man; (only of human in Standard Chinese) male”
    • ideaChinese田 “farmland (Classifier: 塊／块 m c)”
    • ideaChinese力 “physical strength; physical power; energy”
  • characterChinese女 “woman; (only of humans in Standard Chinese) female”
Wiktionary etymology text

From the Book of Rites.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

phrase
  1. desire for food and sex; basic human needs; natural disposition of mankind

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 飲食男女