白内障 (bái nèi zhàng) — cataract (medical condition) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cataract (medical condition)

Examples

白内障，。
Tā dé le bái nèi zhàng, shì lì yuè lái yuè chà.
He has cataracts, and his eyesight is getting worse.
白内障。
bái nèi zhàng Shǒu shù xiàn zài hěn ān quán.
Cataract surgery is very safe now.
白内障。
Yī shēng shuō tā xū yào zuò bái nèi zhàng shǒu shù.
The doctor said he needs to have cataract surgery.

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.

内障internal obstruction

内nèiinternal障zhàngobstruction

偏正Modifier + head

The word builds from 白 (white) and 内障 (internal obstruction), naming a white opacity inside the eye.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

入入rùto enter
冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

阝章障

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

章

章zhāng障zhàng

Same sound today

The left part 阝, written in full as 阜, sits beside 章, which supplies the sound.

Appears in

Illness & Symptoms

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