激素 (jī sù) — hormone | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

hormone

激素。
Rén tǐ nèi de jī sù fù zé tiáo jié xīn chén dài xiè.
Hormones in the human body regulate metabolism.
激素。
Yā lì guò dà huì dǎo zhì jī sù fēn mì yì cháng.
Excessive stress can lead to abnormal hormone secretion.
激素。
Tā yīn wèi jī sù shī héng ér jīng cháng shī mián.
She often suffers from insomnia due to hormonal imbalance.

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.

激jīstimulate

素sùsubstance

The word joins 激, stimulate, with 素, substance, naming a body substance that stirs or regulates.

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.

氵敫激

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

敫

敫jiǎo激jī

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

In 激, the 氵 side marks water, and 敫 gives the sound jiǎo; the original sense is water swashing.

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

The shape of 素 came from a picture of hands braiding thread.

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