乳腺癌 (rǔ xiàn ái) — breast cancer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

breast cancer

Examples

乳腺癌。
Tā qù nián chá chū le rǔ xiàn ái.
She was found to have breast cancer last year.
乳腺癌。
Dìng qī jiǎn chá kě yǐ bāng zhù fā xiàn zǎo qī de rǔ xiàn ái.
Regular check-ups can help detect early-stage breast cancer.
乳腺癌。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā jìn xíng rǔ xiàn ái zhì liáo.
The doctor recommended she undergo breast cancer treatment.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

乳腺breast gland

乳rǔbreast腺xiàngland

偏正Modifier + head

癌áicancer

乳 and 腺 specify the cancer's location.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

乳 originally drew a kneeling woman holding and breastfeeding a child, matching its meanings of breast and milk.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

疒嵒癌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèdisease

Sound part声符shēngfú

嵒

嵒yán癌

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

癌 combines 疒 (disease) with 嵒, a component used for its sound.

Appears in

Illness & Symptoms

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