The ancient pictogram for the character "菜" was "采"----a hand on a fruit tree, meaning picking, as most vegetables were hand-picked in ancient times. Later there was a "艹" written above it which means it is a kind of herbaceous plant. The original meaning of "菜" was "edible grass", namelyvegetable today. Meat, eggs were not "菜" in Early Ancient Period until the medieval times.
字义:
vegetable; dish
组词:
蔬菜:shūcài/ vegetables; greens; greenstuff
菜单:càidān/ menu
菜系:càixì/ style of cooking
凉菜:liángcài/ cold dish
荤菜:hūncài/ meat dish
例句:
1、我是素食主义者,每天只吃一点蔬菜和水果。 Wǒ shì sùshí zhǔyìzhě, měitiān zhǐ chī yìdiǎn shūcài hé shuǐguǒ. I am a vegetarian, I only eat a small amount of fruits and vegetables every day.
2、中国菜有四大菜系——广东菜、山东菜、四川菜及淮扬菜。 Zhōngguócài yǒu sì dà càixì ——Guǎngdōng cài 、Shāndōng cài 、Sìchuān cài jí Huáiyáng cài. There are four major styles of cooking in Chinese food -- Cantonese Cuisine, Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine and Huaiyang Cuisine
Zhège liángcài wèidào búcuò. This cold dish is tasty.