保健室 (bǎo jiàn shì) — health center, clinic (e.g., at a school or workplace)

Definition

noun
health centerclinic (e.g., at a school or workplace)
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 保健室。
    Wǒ men xué xiào de bǎo jiàn shì zài xué xiào dà lóu de yī céng.
    Our school's health center is on the first floor of the main building.
  • 保健室。
    Gōng sī lǐ de bǎo jiàn shì měi tiān xià wǔ dōu kāi fàng.
    The company's health center is open every afternoon.
  • ，保健室。
    Tā gǎn mào le, suǒ yǐ qù bǎo jiàn shì ná le xiē yào.
    He had a cold, so he went to the health center to get some medicine.

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.

保健protect health
保bǎoprotect健jiànhealth
动宾Verb + object
室shìroom

'保健' means protecting health, and '室' is a room, so it names a room for health care.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
建
建jiàn健jiàn
Same sound today

The left part 亻 depicts a person, and the right part 建 gives the sound.

Open 健 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
至
至zhì室shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Open 室 →

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