病毒 (bìng dú) — virus (biological or computer) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A straightforward scientific/learned word for a 'virus' — covering both biological viruses and computer viruses. 疫苗 (yìmiáo) is what fights it: a 'vaccine'.

noun

virus (biological or computer)

Measure word · 种

Examples

病毒。
Zhè zhǒng bìng dú kě yǐ tōng guò kōng qì chuán bō.
This kind of virus can be transmitted through the air.
病毒。
Wǒ de diàn nǎo bèi bìng dú gǎn rǎn le.
My computer got infected by a virus.
病毒。
Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán zhì duì kàng xīn bìng dú de yào wù.
Scientists are developing a drug to fight the new virus.

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

毒dúpoison

病 means illness and 毒 means poison; together they name a disease-causing agent.

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

屮屮chèvegetation

Sound part声符shēngfú

毐

毐ǎi毒dú

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

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Appears in

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