性病 (xìng bìng) — sexually transmitted disease (STD), venereal di…

Definition

noun

sexually transmitted disease (STD)venereal disease (VD)

Measure word · 种

性病。
Tā qù yī yuàn jiǎn chá shì fǒu dé le xìng bìng.
He went to the hospital to check if he had contracted an STD.
性病。
Yù fáng xìng bìng de zuì hǎo fāng fǎ shì shǐ yòng ān quán tào.
The best way to prevent STDs is to use condoms.
性病。
Hěn duō rén duì xìng bìng quē fá zú gòu de liǎo jiě.
Many people lack sufficient understanding of STDs.

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 病 to disease, giving the sense of a disease transmitted through sex.

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.

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

疒丙病

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèsickness

Sound part声符shēngfú

丙

Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

Appears in