白斑 (bái bān) — white spot, white patch; (medicine) leukoplakia

Definition

noun
white spotwhite patch(medicine) leukoplakia
Measure word · 块
Easily confused

Examples

  • 白斑。
    Tā de pí fū shàng chū xiàn le yí gè bái bān.
    A white spot appeared on his skin.
  • 白斑。
    Yī shēng shuō tā kǒu qiāng lǐ de bái bān shì liáng xìng de.
    The doctor said the leukoplakia in his mouth is benign.
  • 白斑。
    Zhè zhī māo de ěr duo shàng yǒu yí gè bái bān.
    This cat has a white spot on its ear.

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.

白báiwhite
斑bānspot

白 gives the color and 斑 gives a spot; together they mean a white patch.

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.

Open 白 →

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
文文wénpattern
Sound part声符shēngfú
班
班bān斑bān
Same sound today

斑 uses 文 to show a pattern and 班 to give its sound.

Open 斑 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.