医学史 (yī xué shǐ) — history of medicine

Definition

noun

history of medicine

医学史。
Wǒ duì yī xué shǐ hěn gǎn xìng qù.
I am very interested in the history of medicine.
医学史。
Tā zhèng zài xiě yì běn guān yú yī xué shǐ de shū.
He is writing a book about the history of medicine.
医学史。
Xué xí yī xué shǐ kě yǐ liǎo jiě gǔ dài de zhì liáo fāng fǎ.
Studying the history of medicine can help understand ancient treatment methods.

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.

医学medicine

偏正Modifier + head

医学 gives 'medicine' and 史 gives 'history', together naming the history of medicine.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 醫; 医 is its simplified writing.

殹酉醫

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒuliquor

Sound part声符shēngfú

殹

殹yì醫yī

Same sound today

The traditional form 醫 pairs 酉 (liquor) with 殹 as a sound part; the simplified 医 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

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

The old drawing showed someone holding a flag-like or writing tool, indicating the act of recording events; the exact inner shape is unclear.