假性 (jiǎ xìng) — pseudo-; false; spurious

Definition

A formal medical/scientific prefix meaning 'pseudo-' — something that looks or acts like the real thing but isn't (e.g. 假性近视 'pseudo-myopia'). Pairs with a following noun; not used in everyday speech.

adjective
pseudo-falsespurious

Examples

  • 假性，。
    Yī shēng shuō tā zhǐ shì jiǎ xìng jìn shì, bú shì zhēn de jìn shì.
    The doctor said he only has pseudo-myopia, not real myopia.
  • 假性。
    Zhè zhǒng jiǎ xìng zhèng zhuàng hěn róng yì bèi wù zhěn.
    This kind of pseudo-symptom is easily misdiagnosed.
  • 假性，。
    Tā chū xiàn le jiǎ xìng huái yùn de fǎn yìng, dàn jiǎn chá hòu què rèn méi yǒu huái yùn.
    She had symptoms of pseudo-pregnancy, but after the examination it was confirmed she was not pregnant.

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.

假jiǎfalse
性xìngnature

假 conveys false or spurious, while 性 refers to the nature of something, so the word describes a false appearance.

Characters in this word

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
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →

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