TongTong
Sign in

求医 (qiú yī) — to seek medical treatment; to see a doctor

Definition

求医 emphasizes the effortful search for treatment (often 到处/四处求医), highlighting difficulty. 就医 is the neutral formal verb for seeing a doctor; 医疗 refers to the treatment process itself.

verb
to seek medical treatmentto see a doctor

Examples

  • ，求医。
    Tā fā shāo le, suǒ yǐ qù yī yuàn qiú yī.
    He had a fever, so he went to the hospital to see a doctor.
  • ，。
    Hěn duō nóng cūn dì qū de rén kàn bìng bù fāng biàn, dàn hái shì yāo qiú yī.
    Many people in rural areas find it inconvenient to see a doctor, but they still need to seek medical treatment.
  • ，求医。
    Tā wèi le zhì zhè ge bìng, sì chù qiú yī.
    He went around seeking medical treatment to cure this illness.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

求qiúseek
医yīmedical care

求 means to seek and 医 refers to medical care, so 求医 means to see a doctor.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

求 began as a drawing of a centipede.

Open 求 →

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 醫; 医 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
酉酉yǒuliquor
Sound part声符shēngfú
殹
殹yì醫yī
Same sound today

The traditional form 醫 pairs 酉 (liquor) with 殹 as a sound part; the simplified 医 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 医 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.