Meaning of 饮食
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- eating and drinking
- food and drink; diet
How to use 饮食
饮食 is a fairly formal noun for food and drink in general, or for someone's diet and eating habits. It often appears in health, culture and news contexts, as in 饮食习惯 (yǐnshí xíguàn, eating habits) or 中国饮食文化 (Zhōngguó yǐnshí wénhuà, Chinese food culture). Example: 你要注意饮食。(Nǐ yào zhùyì yǐnshí.) You should watch your diet.
饮 (yǐn) means to drink and 食 (shí) means to eat, so 饮食 is simply drinking plus eating. Both characters carry the food radical 饣/食, which reminds you this word is all about what goes into your mouth.
Common mistake: Learners often use 饮食 where 食物 (shíwù) fits better. 饮食 is about eating and drinking as a habit or category, while 食物 refers to the actual food items, so say 冰箱里有很多食物, not 饮食. Also note the order: drinking comes first, so it is never 食饮.
饮食 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
饮 yǐn · to swallow · 7 strokes
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食 shí · food · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 饮食.
| 食物 | shíwù | food |
| 食品 | shípǐn | foodstuff; food; provisions |
| 美食 | měishí | culinary delicacy; fine food |
| 粮食 | liángshi | foodstuff; cereals |
| 食堂 | shítáng | dining hall; cafeteria |
| 零食 | língshí | snack; nibbles |
| 饮料 | yǐnliào | drink; beverage |
| 餐饮 | cānyǐn | food and beverage; catering |
| 食欲 | shíyù | appetite |
| 食用 | shíyòng | to eat; to consume; edible |
| 素食 | sùshí | vegetarian food; to eat a vegetarian diet |
| 伙食 | huǒshí | food; meals |
Questions about 饮食
What does 饮食 mean?
饮食 (yǐnshí) means "eating and drinking; food and drink; diet" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 饮食?
饮食 is made of 2 characters: 饮 (7 strokes), 食 (9 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 饮食 an HSK word?
Yes. 饮食 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 饮食 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 饮食 is written 飲食.
Can 饮食 be used as a verb meaning to eat?
Not in normal speech. In everyday Chinese you say 吃饭 (chīfàn) or 吃东西 (chī dōngxi) for the action of eating, and keep 饮食 as a noun for diet or food and drink.
How do you say 'go on a diet' in Chinese?
饮食 alone does not mean dieting to lose weight. People say 节食 (jiéshí, to cut down on eating) or 控制饮食 (kòngzhì yǐnshí, to control one's diet). 健康饮食 (jiànkāng yǐnshí) means a healthy diet.