定食
ていしょく · teishoku · JLPT N1 · noun
lunch
🍱 定 = fixed/set + 食 = meal: teishoku is a fixed set meal
定 means fixed or set, and 食 means food or meal. Together they name a set meal with fixed contents and price, often served as lunch or dinner.
定 — roof 宀 + 正 (correct/upright, phonetic)
Originally written with 宀 (roof) over 正 (upright/correct), suggesting a household settled and orderly under its roof. Over time 正 simplified to 㐬-like form at the bottom, and the meaning shifted from 'settled home' to the broader senses of 'fix, stable, decide.'