xiǎng
verb #41,325

Meanings

  1. 1 to treat someone to food and drink; to entertain (a guest)
  2. 2 to offer food in sacrifice

Examples

Zhǔrén shè xià shèngyàn xiǎng kè.
The host laid out a fine banquet to entertain his guests.
Wǒmen bǎ zhè gùshi yǐ xiǎng dúzhě.
We share this story to treat our readers.

Tips

usage
Formal and literary 'to entertain with a feast'. Survives in set expressions like 以飨读者 ('to offer this for the enjoyment of readers'). The traditional sense also covers presenting food offerings to ancestors or gods.

Components

radical
shí
food; to eat
The food radical is literal: the whole word is about laying on food and drink to entertain or to offer in sacrifice.
phonetic
xiāng
village; hometown
Standalone ('village') gives the sound (xiāng → xiǎng) and a faint meaning echo — the original sense was villagers gathering to drink together at a communal feast.

Stroke Order

xiǎng