店 diàn — a shop, a store; an inn
diàn (fourth tone, falling)
a shop, a store; an inn
8 strokesRadical 广Frequency #589
Pinyin
- diàn (fourth tone, falling)
a shop, a store; an inn
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿸广占The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 广meaning partno entry yetA building open at the front — exactly what a shop is.
- 占sound partno entry yet占 zhān / zhàn for the sound; on its own it means to take up a place, which sits well with a shop occupying its pitch.
Mnemonic
The lean-to 广 with 占 under it for the sound: a roofed frontage open to the street, which is what a shop was and largely still is. The word is a suffix in practice — say what is sold and add it: 书店 a bookshop, 商店 a general store, 饭店 a restaurant or, in city names, a hotel.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.
Words containing 店
- 店diàn (fourth tone, falling)inn; old-style hotel
- 商店shāngdiàn (first tone, high and level)shop, store
- 酒店jiǔ (third tone, dipping) diàn (fourth tone, falling)wine shop
- 饭店飯店fàndiàn (fourth tone, falling)restaurant
- 书店書店shū (first tone, high and level) diàn (fourth tone, falling)bookstore
- 药店藥店yào (fourth tone, falling) diàn (fourth tone, falling)pharmacy
- 连锁店連鎖店lián (second tone, rising) suǒ (third tone, dipping) diàn (fourth tone, falling)chain store
- 专卖店專賣店zhuān (first tone, high and level) mài (fourth tone, falling) diàn (fourth tone, falling)specialty store
- 旅店lǚ (third tone, dipping) diàn (fourth tone, falling)inn
- 便利店biàn (fourth tone, falling) lì (fourth tone, falling) diàn (fourth tone, falling)convenience store