变异 (biàn yì) — to mutate (in biology, genetics); to vary; to c…

Definition

The technical/scientific term, mainly 'to mutate' (genes, viruses). Unlike 变化 (general change/variation), 变异 implies an abnormal or biological shift.

verb

to mutate (in biology, genetics)to varyto change (in a general sense)

变异，。
Bìng dú huì bú duàn biàn yì, suǒ yǐ yì miáo xū yào gēng xīn.
Viruses keep mutating, so vaccines need to be updated.
变异。
Zhè zhǒng jī yīn zài tè dìng tiáo jiàn xià róng yì biàn yì.
This gene tends to mutate under certain conditions.
变异，。
Jì huà tū rán biàn yì le, wǒ men dé chóng xīn tiáo zhěng.
The plan suddenly changed, and we had to readjust.

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 變; 变 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

䜌

䜌䜌變biàn

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

The traditional form 變 uses 䜌 as a sound part and 攴 as a meaning part.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 異; 异 is its simplified writing.

田共異

The traditional form 異 depicts a person with a mask 田 over the face, so the face looks different. The simplified 异 is a later shorthand.

Appears in