病房 (bìng fáng) — hospital ward, sickroom | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

病房 is specifically a hospital ward or sickroom — 屋子 is a generic 'room' and 客房 is a guest/hotel room. 病房 is the only one tied to a medical setting.

noun

hospital wardsickroom

Measure word · 间

Examples

病房。
Bìng rén zhù zài bìng fáng lǐ.
The patient stays in the ward.
病房。
Zhè jiān bìng fáng hěn ān jìng.
This ward is very quiet.
病房。
Yī shēng měi tiān lái bìng fáng jiǎn chá bìng rén.
The doctor comes to the ward every day to check on the patients.

Origin

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.

病bìngillness

病 means illness and 房 means room; together they name a room for sick people.

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.

疒丙病

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèsickness

Sound part声符shēngfú

丙

丙bǐng病bìng

Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

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

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

方fāng房fáng

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Hospital & Clinic

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.