席

• Pinyin: xí
• Hanzi breakdown: 席 = 广 (wide roof/shelter) + 帀 (surround, wrap) + 巾 (cloth/fabric — together: a woven fabric mat spread under shelter)

Meaning

Seat; mat; banquet; a measure word for meals or banquets. Used for woven mats, seating positions, and formal meals.

Appears in formal titles (主席 — chairman), seating arrangements (出席 — to attend), and banquets (一席饭 — a banquet). 席 historically referred to woven reed or rush mats used for sitting, and by extension any formal seating position.

Examples

1. 宴会厅内摆放了二十席酒席，每席可容纳十位宾客入座。 Twenty banquet tables were set up in the hall, and each table could seat ten guests.
2. 他因公务繁忙，无法出席本次年度表彰大会，深感遗憾。 Because of pressing work obligations, he couldn’t attend this year’s annual awards ceremony and felt deeply regretful.
3. 这次圆桌会议共设有十二个席位，供各国代表平等参与讨论。 This roundtable meeting has twelve seats, allowing delegates from each country to participate in discussions on an equal footing.

Usage Guide

Context: banquets, formal events, politics, diplomacy, ceremonies

Tone: formal

Do Say

• 发言人说明，峰会各国代表团的席位按字母顺序排列，不分先后，也不含政治意味。(The spokesperson explained that the summit's seats for each national delegation are arranged in alphabetical order, with no ranking or political meaning.)
• 婚礼统筹建议，主桌席位要照顾长辈关系，别把有旧怨的亲属安排在一起。(The wedding planner suggested that the main table seating should consider the elders' relationships and not place relatives with old grudges together.)

Don't Say

• 一席话 when you only mean 'a sentence' — 一席话 means a substantial speech or meaningful conversation, implying a proper sitting; use 一句话 for a single sentence; confusing these understates or overstates the weight of what was said

Origin & History

席 = 广 + 帀 + 巾 (shelter/roof + surround + cloth — a mat spread out under a roof for sitting; a woven mat used as seating)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal