Modern schoolchildren, having encountered the word "food" in classical literature, will be asked what it is. This lexical unit almost completely goes out of use, sometimes still remaining in fairy tales and epics. So "food" - what is it all about?
Definition and synonyms
Foods in the old days were called food, refreshments, which brought people energy, gave them life. Now this word is considered obsolete. He has many synonyms, some of which, too, have long been found only in written language. Among them: venom, dandy, hasty, howl, hedgehog. There are more familiar options: eat, food, dish, food, edible, food. The most universal and stylistically neutral in this case will be the last word.
The meaning of the word "food", as a rule, still implies a delicious treat, and not the usual everyday food. So, perhaps, that is why this word is most often found in the description of feasts, weddings and other celebrations.
Spelling and orthoepy
When writing essays and dictations, an annoying mistake is quite common - students insert the letter “in” after the “I”. Some even pronounce the word in this way. However, given the etymology of the word, it is easy to understand that there is no “in” at the beginning. But since this modern lexical unit has no root words in modern Russian, this is not obvious.
By the way, dishes are a plural form. However, it is easy to guess that this is the word used most often. After all, “food” is just one tasty dish, but what kind of holiday does without a rich selection of dishes? Even the well-established expression “dishes on the table” - in the plural - indicates that the celebrations were held on a grand scale.
Term history
It is believed that this word came from the verb "to eat" - to eat, which has transformed into the modern "eat". In some Slavic languages, lexical units related to the term "food" are still preserved, and, as a rule, all of them relate in one way or another to the nutrition process.
However, in addition to the task of physical saturation, the meal process should bring some pleasure from the palatability of the food. And, perhaps, “food” is a word that fully reflects the attitude of our ancestors to food.
Since pagan times, it was believed that a joint meal brought people together to the point that they could consider each other's relatives. The laws of hospitality allowed visitors who dined in the house to rely almost on protection and any help from the hosts. In return, the person himself, so welcomed, would no longer dare to harm the family. So the custom prescribing to offer guests bread and salt is literally a peace agreement between them and the owners. Therefore, to refuse treats was not accepted, and still it is considered impolite.
Now the old laws of hospitality practically do not work, and lush feasts
almost no one is happy. Food is abundant, and a reverent attitude towards it is gradually disappearing. Food ceases to be a symbol of well-being, so that old words are replaced by others reflecting this new order.
Use in the modern language
In the literature of our time, this word is almost never found, except in historical novels to convey the atmosphere and in fairy tales that adults still read to their children, as well as in proverbs and sayings. Now “food” is an obsolete term, replaced by more neutral words from the extensive list of synonyms mentioned earlier. But while he still does not go into oblivion. So, for example, it was this word that was chosen to translate the name of the book of the French writer Andre Gide Nourritures terrestres (1897). So its official name in Russian is "Earth dishes".