外卖
wài mài · HSK 2
take out
🥡🛵 外 (outside) + 卖 (sell) = sold for outside = takeout
外 means outside/external and 卖 means to sell. Together: food sold to be eaten outside the restaurant, i.e. takeout or delivery. Modern usage skews heavily toward app-based food delivery in China.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.
卖 — top 十 + 买 (buy) below
卖 means 'to sell' and is the simplified form of 賣. Historically it pairs 出 (out) over 買 (buy), suggesting goods going out in exchange — the opposite of buying. The simplified shape keeps 买 (buy) underneath with 十 on top as a reduced marker.
wài mài · HSK 4
takeout
🥡🛵 外 = outside + 卖 = sell; food sold for outside the shop
外 (wài) means outside/external and 卖 (mài) means to sell. Together: food sold to be eaten outside the restaurant — takeout or delivery. Don't confuse 卖 mài (sell) with 买 mǎi (buy); the extra top stroke on 卖 marks the seller.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.
卖 — top 十 + 买 (buy) below
卖 means 'to sell' and is the simplified form of 賣. Historically it pairs 出 (out) over 買 (buy), suggesting goods going out in exchange — the opposite of buying. The simplified shape keeps 买 (buy) underneath with 十 on top as a reduced marker.