抗癌 (kàng ái) — to fight cancer; anticancer

Definition

A verb-object compound meaning 'to fight cancer' or 'anticancer'. Often used in medical and news contexts as an adjective ('anticancer drug' = 抗癌药).

verb

to fight canceranticancer

抗癌。
Tā yì zhí zài nǔ lì kàng ái.
He has been working hard to fight cancer.
，。
Tā kàng le sān nián ái, xiàn zài hǎo duō le.
He fought cancer for three years, and now he is much better.
抗癌。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā jiān chí kàng ái.
The doctor advised him to persist in fighting cancer.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

抗 means resist, and 癌 is cancer, so the word is fighting cancer.

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.

扌亢抗

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng抗kàng

Same sound today

抗 is made from 扌, a written form of 手 (hand), and 亢, which gives the sound.

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

疒嵒癌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèdisease

Sound part声符shēngfú

嵒

嵒yán癌

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

癌 combines 疒 (disease) with 嵒, a component used for its sound.

Appears in