晚饭

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word for dinner, 晚饭 (wǎnfàn), is a compound of two characters: 晚 (wǎn), meaning "late", and 饭 (fàn), meaning "cooked rice" or "meal". The character 晚 is composed of two parts: 日 (rì), meaning "sun", and 暮 (mù), meaning "dusk" or "evening". The character 饭 is composed of two parts: 食 (shí), meaning "to eat", and 米 (mǐ), meaning "rice".The word 晚饭 (wǎnfàn) is used to refer to the main meal of the day, which is typically eaten in the evening. In China, dinner is usually served around 6 or 7 pm. The meal typically consists of rice or noodles, along with a variety of dishes, such as meat, vegetables, and soup.The word 晚饭 (wǎnfàn) is also used to refer to the evening meal in other cultures. For example, in Japan, dinner is called 夕食 (yūshoku), which is also a compound of two characters: 夕 (yū), meaning "evening", and 食 (shoku), meaning "meal". In Korea, dinner is called 저녁 (jeonyeok), which is also a compound of two characters: 저 (jeo), meaning "late", and 녁 (nyeok), meaning "evening".