抽煙 / 抽烟
chōuyān
In Chinese, 'smoking' can be translated as 抽煙 / 抽烟 (chōuyān) or 吸煙 / 吸烟.
Meaning: smoking of tobacco (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 抽煙 / 抽烟 | chōuyān |
| 吸煙 / 吸烟 | xīyān |
The term refers to the smoking of tobacco. In public spaces, you will often see the phrase 禁止吸煙 used to mean 'No Smoking'.
What does it mean word for word?
In the form 抽煙 / 抽烟, the character 抽 (chōu) literally means to pull, to draw or to extract, referring to the action of drawing smoke into the mouth. In the form 吸煙 / 吸烟, the character 吸 (xī) literally means to inhale or to suck, focusing on the respiratory action of breathing in smoke.
Which one should you use?
抽煙 / 抽烟 (chōuyān) is the more common, colloquial way to say 'smoking' in daily conversation. 吸煙 / 吸烟 (xīyān) is more formal and is the term typically used in official signs, medical contexts or public notices.
How do you pronounce it?
chōuyān
Did you know?
- In traditional Chinese social etiquette, offering a cigarette to a business partner or superior is often seen as a gesture of respect and a way to build 'guanxi' or social connections.
- While 抽煙 describes the act of smoking, the word for 'cigarette' is 香煙, which literally means 'fragrant smoke'.
- If you are looking for 'smoking food' like smoked ham, you would not use these terms, as Chinese uses different characters to describe the process of preserving food with smoke.
Examples in context
- 请不要在公共场所吸烟。Please do not smoke in public places.
- 他从十八岁开始抽烟。He started smoking at the age of 18.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “smoking” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
