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疖子 (jiē zǐ) — boil, furuncle (a painful skin infection)

Definition

A common word for a boil — a painful, pus-filled bump under the skin (often from a hair follicle). Colloquial; medical writing more often uses 疖 or 痈.

noun
boilfuruncle (a painful skin infection)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 疖子。
    Tā bèi shàng cháng le yí gè jiē zǐ.
    He has a boil on his back.
  • 疖子，。
    Zhè ge jiē zǐ hěn téng, xū yào tú yào.
    This boil hurts a lot and needs medicine applied.
  • 疖子。
    Yī shēng bāng tā bǎ jiē zǐ qiē kāi le.
    The doctor lanced the boil for him.

Origin

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.

疖jiēboil
子zǐsuffix

A boil, with 子 adding a familiar, everyday feel.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 癤; 疖 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
疒疒nèdisease
Sound part声符shēngfú
節
節jié癤
Same sound today

The traditional form 癤 pairs 疒 (disease) with 節 as a sound part; the simplified 疖 is a later shorthand.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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