饮水

• Pinyin: yǐn shuǐ
• Hanzi breakdown: 饮 = 食 + 欠 (food/nourishment + open mouth — to drink); 水 = pictograph of flowing water

Meaning

Drinking water; to drink water. Refers to the act of drinking water or to water intended for drinking.

Used both as a verb phrase (饮水解渴 — to drink water to quench thirst) and as part of compound nouns (饮水安全 — drinking water safety, 饮水设施 — drinking water facilities). The proverb 饮水思源 (when drinking water, think of its source — remember the origins of one's blessings) is a very common cultural reference.

Examples

1. 这个偏远山村长期靠未处理山泉饮水，水质堪忧，政府已启动供水管网改造。 This remote mountain village has long relied on untreated spring water for drinking, so the water quality is worrying; the government has started upgrading the water supply network.
2. 极端气候正在加剧多地饮水危机，若不系统干预，到本世纪中叶将有二十多亿人缺乏清洁饮水。 Extreme climate is worsening drinking water crises in many places; without systematic intervention, over two billion people will lack clean drinking water by mid-century.
3. 长途登山时应定时少量补充饮水，别在剧烈消耗后一次喝太多，以免打乱电解质平衡。 On long climbs, you should replenish drinking water regularly in small amounts and avoid drinking too much at once after heavy exertion, so you do not upset electrolyte balance.

Usage Guide

Context: health, environment, policy, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 指挥部把保障灾区居民基本饮水列为首要任务，并迅速运送瓶装水和净水设备到重灾乡镇。(The command center made ensuring basic drinking water for disaster-area residents its top priority and quickly delivered bottled water and purification equipment to the hardest-hit townships.)
• 高温高湿环境下，建议作业人员每二十分钟补充约150到200毫升淡盐饮水，以维持水电解质平衡。(In hot, humid environments, workers are advised to drink about 150 to 200 milliliters of lightly salted water every twenty minutes to maintain water and electrolyte balance.)

Don't Say

• 他饮水了很多书 — 饮水 collocates only with liquids; for reading or absorbing information use 汲取 or 吸收; 饮水 cannot take non-liquid objects

Origin & History

饮 (to drink — 食 food radical + 欠 yawn/open mouth; to consume liquid) + 水 (water — 水 pictograph of flowing water)

Cultural Context

Era: Classical–Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal