About
饯 (simplified from 餞) is a phono-semantic compound character. As a verb, it means to give a farewell dinner or see someone off with a parting meal, and as a noun, it refers to candied fruits. The left-side radical 饣, originating from the traditional 飠, places the meaning within the realm of food and eating. The right-side component 戋, simplified from 戔, serves purely as the phonetic, indicating pronunciation. Historically, the formal custom of holding a banquet to wish a traveler a safe journey was known as 饯行 (jiànxíng). The character is also common in 蜜饯 (mìjiàn), fruits that are candied and preserved in sugar syrup for long-term consumption.
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