病源 (bìng yuán) — cause of disease; source of illness | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cause of diseasesource of illness

Easily confused

病员bìng yuánsound-alikepatient (formal, especially in institutional or collective contexts)

Examples

病源。
Yī shēng zhèng zài xún zhǎo zhè zhǒng jí bìng de bìng yuán.
The doctor is searching for the cause of this disease.
病源。
Liǎo jiě bìng yuán yǒu zhù yú yù fáng chuán rǎn bìng.
Understanding the source of disease helps prevent infectious diseases.
病源。
Yán jiū rén yuán fā xiàn le xīn de bìng yuán.
Researchers discovered a new cause of disease.

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bìngdisease

病 marks the kind of 源, the source of illness.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

原

原yuán源yuán

Same sound today

源 combines 水 (water) and 原 (origin): 水 points to water, and 原 gives the sound.

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