菜
cài
vegetable; dish; food
Type: NounsHSK 1
The radical 艹 (grass) + 采 (to gather, phonetic). It originally referred to the wild greens people gathered to eat.
It also means 'a dish' (中国菜 = Chinese food). In youth slang, 菜鸟 (càiniǎo) means 'newbie' (literally 'green bird').
艹cǎoplant
采cǎito gather
我喜欢吃中国菜。
Wǒ xǐhuan chī Zhōngguó cài.
I like eating Chinese food.
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