甲状腺素 (jiǎ zhuàng xiàn sù) — thyroxine

Definition

noun

thyroxine

甲状腺素。
Yī shēng jiǎn chá le bìng rén de jiǎ zhuàng xiàn sù shuǐ píng.
The doctor checked the patient's thyroxine level.
甲状腺素。
jiǎ zhuàng xiàn sù Shì jiǎ zhuàng xiàn fēn mì de zhòng yào jī sù.
Thyroxine is an important hormone secreted by the thyroid gland.
甲状腺素。
Zhè xiàng jiǎn chá kě yǐ cè liáng xuè yè zhōng de jiǎ zhuàng xiàn sù nóng dù.
This test can measure the concentration of thyroxine in the blood.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

甲状腺thyroid gland

素sùsubstance

甲状腺 names the thyroid gland, and 素 marks the hormone substance it produces.

Characters in this word

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

甲 is drawn as a hard protective shell, carapace, or scales of an animal, or as armor made of connected plates.

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 狀; 状 is its simplified writing.

爿犬狀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

爿

爿pán狀zhuàng

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

The traditional form 狀 pairs 犬 (dog) with 爿 as a sound component; the simplified 状 is a shorthand, not the historical shape.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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.