早饭

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 早饭 (zǎofàn) for "breakfast" is composed of two characters: 早 (zǎo), meaning "early," and 饭 (fàn), meaning "cooked rice" or "meal." The character 早 is a pictograph depicting the sun rising over the horizon, indicating the early morning. The character 饭 is a compound ideograph combining the characters 食 (shí), meaning "to eat," and 米 (mǐ), meaning "rice." Together, these characters form the word 早饭, which literally means "early meal" or "morning meal." This term is commonly used in Mandarin Chinese to refer to the first meal of the day, typically eaten in the morning before starting the day's activities.