皮肤科 (pí fū kē) — dermatology (field of medicine); dermatology de…

Definition

noun

dermatology (field of medicine)dermatology department (in a hospital)

，皮肤科。
Wǒ liǎn shàng cháng le hěn duō dòu dou, xiǎng qù kàn pí fū kē.
I have a lot of pimples on my face and want to see a dermatologist.
皮肤科。
pí fū kē De yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ shǐ yòng zhè zhǒng yào gāo.
The doctor in the dermatology department recommended I use this ointment.
皮肤科，。
Zhè jiā yī yuàn de pí fū kē hěn yǒu míng, hěn duō huàn zhě cóng wài dì gǎn lái.
The dermatology department of this hospital is very famous; many patients come from other places.

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.

皮肤skin

联合Coordinate

科kēdepartment

皮肤 is skin and 科 is a department or field; the name denotes the medical department concerned with skin.

Characters in this word

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

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

肉肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

夫

Same sound today

The shape of 肤 comes from 肉, flesh, plus 夫, which gives the sound.

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

禾斗科

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòumeasuring tool

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Appears in