菜（cài）
字形：
最早的“菜”字写作“采”，是一只手在果树之上，表示采摘，因为古代蔬菜大多都是采摘而来的，因此用“采”表示蔬菜的意思。后来加上了草字头，表示其为植物。本意是可以吃的草，也就是蔬菜，上古的“菜”不包括肉类、蛋类，直到中古以后，这些才包括在内。
The ancient pictogram for the character “菜” was “采”—-a hand on a fruit tree, meaning picking, as most vegetables were hand-picked in ancient times. Later there was a “艹” written above it which means it is a kind of herbaceous plant. The original meaning of “菜” was “edible grass”, namely vegetable today. Meat, eggs were not “菜” in Early Ancient Period until the medieval times.
字义：
vegetable; dish
组词：
蔬菜（shūcài）： vegetables; greens; greenstuff
菜单（càidān）： menu
菜系（càixì）： style of cooking
凉菜（liángcài）： cold dish
荤菜（hūncài）： meat dish
例句：
Wǒ shì sùshí zhǔyìzhě, měitiān zhǐ chī yìdiǎn shūcài hé shuǐguǒ.
1、我是素食主义者，每天只吃一点蔬菜和水果。
I am a vegetarian, I only eat a small amount of fruits and vegetables every day.
Zhōngguócài yǒu sì dà càixì ——Guǎngdōng cài 、Shāndōng cài 、Sìchuān cài jí Huáiyáng cài.
2、中国菜有四大菜系——广东菜、山东菜、四川菜及淮杨菜。
There are four major styles of cooking in Chinese food — Cantonese Cuisine, Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine and Huaiyang Cuisine
Zhège liángcài wèidào búcuò.
3、这个凉菜味道不错。
This cold dish is tasty.
