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料理

liàolǐ
verb HSK 7-9 #9,133

Meanings

  1. 1 to take care of; to manage; to handle
  2. 2 cuisine; cooking (borrowed from Japanese)

Characters

料
liào
material; to anticipate
理
lǐ
to manage; to arrange
As a verb, 'to manage materials/affairs.' As a noun for cuisine, this is a loanword borrowed back from Japanese (ryouri), where the characters were repurposed to mean cooking.

Examples

家里的事都由她料理。
Jiālǐ de shì dōu yóu tā liàolǐ.
She takes care of all the household affairs.
这家日本料理很好吃。
Zhèjiā Rìběn liàolǐ hěn hǎochī.
This Japanese restaurant is delicious.

Tips

history
料理 as 'cuisine' traveled a fascinating route: Chinese characters went to Japan, where 料理 came to mean 'cooking.' Then the word was borrowed back into Chinese specifically for Japanese food. Now Chinese people use it for other cuisines too: 韩国料理, 西式料理.

Stroke Order

料 liào
理 lǐ