吃素

Chinese

		eat; eradicate; destroy eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer	plain; element
simp. and trad. (吃素)		吃	素

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chīsù
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄙㄨˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chihsù
  - Wade–Giles: chʻih¹-su⁴
  - Yale: chr̄-sù
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chysuh
  - Palladius: чису (čisu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ su⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: hek³ sou³
  - Yale: hek sou
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hek⁸ sou³
  - Guangdong Romanization: hég³ sou³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɛːk̚³ sou̯³³/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: ceh⁴ su³
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /t͡sʰəʔ² su⁴⁵/

吃⫽素 (verb-object)

to live on a vegetarian diet; to be a vegetarian
我吃素。 ― Wǒ chīsù. ― I'm a vegetarian.

他吃了七天素。 ― Tā chī le qī tiān sù. ― He went vegetarian for seven days.
(figurative) to be weak; to be powerless; to be yielding
我可不是吃素的。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Wǒ kě bùshì chīsù de. [Pinyin]
Don't mess with me.

Dialectal synonyms of 吃素 (“to be a vegetarian; to eat vegetarian food”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		吃素, 吃齋, 茹素
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	吃素
Northeastern Mandarin	Singapore	吃素
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	吃素
Southwestern Mandarin	Wuhan	吃素, 吃齋
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	吃齋
Cantonese	Guangzhou	食齋
	Hong Kong	食齋, 食素
	Singapore (Guangfu)	食齋
Hakka	Meixian	食齋, 食素
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	食齋
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	食齋
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	食齋
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	食齋
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	食齋
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	食菜
Jin	Taiyuan	吃素
Northern Min	Jian'ou	饁齋
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	食菜
Southern Min	Xiamen	食菜
	Quanzhou	食菜
	Jinjiang	食菜
	Zhangzhou	食菜
	Taipei	食菜
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	食菜
	Kaohsiung	食菜
	Yilan	食素, 食菜
	Changhua (Lukang)	食菜
	Taichung	食菜
	Tainan	食素, 食菜
	Hsinchu	食菜, 食素
	Kinmen	食菜
	Penghu (Magong)	食菜
	Penang (Hokkien)	食菜, 食齋
	Singapore (Hokkien)	食齋
	Manila (Hokkien)	食菜
	Jieyang	食齋
	Leizhou	食齋, 食澈
	Haikou	食齋
Wu	Wenzhou	吃素
Xiang	Loudi	吃齋

(antonym(s) of “to be a vegetarian”): 吃葷／吃荤 (chīhūn), 茹葷／茹荤 (rúhūn); (Hokkien) 食臊