性器 (xìng qì) — genitals, sexual organs

Definition

Formal/scientific term for 'genitals / sexual organs' — found in medical, biological, and academic writing. 比生殖器更书面, less common in everyday speech.

noun

genitalssexual organs

Easily confused

性器。
Yī shēng jiǎn chá le bìng rén de xìng qì.
The doctor examined the patient's genitals.
性器。
Zhè běn shū xiáng xì jiè shào le nán xìng xìng qì de jié gòu hé gōng néng.
This book gives a detailed introduction to the structure and function of male reproductive organs.
性器。
Pēi tāi zài fā yù zǎo qī jiù yǐ jīng xíng chéng xìng qì.
The genitals form already in the early stage of embryonic development.

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.

性 refers to sex and 器 to an organ, together naming the sexual organs.

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.

忄生性

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

生

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.

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

The origin of 器 is uncertain; one traditional account reads the whole shape as a scene of guarding over four vessels.