昏死 (hūn sǐ) — to faint; to lose consciousness temporarily; to fall into a coma

Definition

A vivid verb meaning 'to faint / pass out' (briefly lose consciousness, as from heatstroke or shock) or 'to fall into a coma'. Emphasizes the moment of losing consciousness, more dramatic than 晕 (yūn).

verb
to faintto lose consciousness temporarilyto fall into a coma

Examples

  • 昏死。
    Tā zhòng shǔ hòu tū rán hūn sǐ le.
    He suddenly fainted after heatstroke.
  • 昏死，。
    Bìng rén yǐ jīng hūn sǐ sān tiān le, yī shēng zhèng zài quán lì qiǎng jiù.
    The patient has been in a coma for three days, and the doctors are fighting to save him.
  • ，昏死。
    Tīng dào nà ge xiāo xi, tā jī hū hūn sǐ guò qù.
    On hearing that news, she nearly fainted.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

昏hūnfaint
死sǐdead

昏 means faint, and 死 means dead, giving fainting as if dead.

Characters in this word

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

昏 combines 日 (sun) with 氏, a part showing lowering or going down. The picture is the sun going down at dusk.

Open 昏 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

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