症候 (zhèng hòu) — symptom; disease | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Formal medical term: 'symptom' (a sign of illness) or, more broadly, 'disease/condition'. Most common in clinical and academic writing; everyday speech prefers 症状 or 病.

noun

symptomdisease

Examples

症候。
Bìng rén chū xiàn le duō zhǒng zhèng hòu.
The patient showed multiple symptoms.
症候。
Zhè zhǒng zhèng hòu xū yào jìn yí bù jiǎn chá.
This symptom requires further examination.
症候。
Yī shēng gēn jù zhèng hòu lái pàn duàn bìng yīn.
The doctor determines the cause of the disease based on the symptoms.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

症zhèngillness

Illness and sign combine to refer to symptoms.

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.

疒正症

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèdisease

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng症zhèng

Same sound today

The left part 疒 shows it is about disease. The right part 正 is used for the sound.

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

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

矦

矦hóu候hòu

Same sound today

候 combines 亻, relating to people, with 矦, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Illness & Symptoms

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