飯

A phono-semantic compound:

食 (“food, to eat”) — semantic element.

反 (ban / fàn, “to turn, to return”) — phonetic element.

Original meaning: cooked grain (esp. rice), the staple food.

By extension: to eat, to dine, a meal.

吃飯 (식반) — to eat, to have a meal

早飯 (조반) — breakfast (lit. morning meal)

午飯 (오반) — lunch (midday meal)

晚飯 (만반) — dinner, evening meal

飯店 (반점) — restaurant, hotel (lit. “meal shop”)

飯桌 (반탁) — dining table

In Chinese, 飯 often stands for a meal in general, not just “rice.”

In Korean, 飯 is the hanja for 밥, the staple “cooked rice,” but also carries the broader meaning of meal/food.

In Japanese, 飯 (meshi, han) is commonly used for cooked rice and by extension “meal,” but often replaced in compounds by 食.