Chinese word

菜单

Pronunciation

Pinyincài dān

Meaning

  • nounmenu

Example

请给我看一下菜单。qǐng gěi wǒ kàn yí xià cài dān

Please show me the menu.

Illustration for 菜单 (menu)

More examples

顾客在菜单上点了菜。gù kè zài cài dān shàng diǎn le cài

The customer ordered food from the menu.

Core concept

An arranged set of food choices that helps someone select a meal, whether shown on paper, on a screen, or as a planned set of meals.

Common phrases

  • 翻菜单fān cài dān

    flip through the menu

  • 在菜单上点菜zài cài dān shàng diǎn cài

    order from the menu

Similar words

菜cài: A single dish prepared and served as part of a meal.
饭fàn: Cooked rice eaten as a staple food.

Definition in Chinese

在餐馆或食堂供顾客选择菜品的纸质或电子清单，上面通常标有菜名和价格。zài cān guǎn huò shí táng gōng gù kè xuǎn zé cài pǐn de zhǐ zhì huò diàn zi qīng dān shàng miàn tōng cháng biāo yǒu cài míng hé jià gé

Word origin

菜单 (càidān, "menu") combines 菜 (cài, "dish") and 单 (dān, "list"), so its basic image is a list that gathers dishes for selection.

Usage tips

  • Chinese uses this noun for a cafeteria's daily food list as well as a restaurant's choices, so it can appear on school notices too.

Other meanings

  • meal plannoun

Word lists with this word