菜单

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 菜单 (càidān) for "menu" is a compound of two characters: 菜 (cài), meaning "vegetable" or "food", and 单 (dān), meaning "list" or "document". The term "menu" originally referred to a list of dishes served at a meal, but it has since come to be used more broadly to refer to any list of items, such as a list of options on a computer screen.The character 菜 (cài) has a long history in Chinese, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). It was originally used to refer to wild plants that were gathered for food, but it later came to be used more broadly to refer to any type of plant that is eaten. The character 单 (dān) is also an ancient character, dating back to the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046-256 BC). It was originally used to refer to a single object, but it later came to be used more broadly to refer to a list or document.The compound word 菜单 (càidān) first appeared in the Chinese language during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). It was originally used to refer to a list of dishes served at a banquet, but it later came to be used more broadly to refer to any list of items. Today, 菜单 is the most common word used in Chinese to refer to a menu.