绝症 (jué zhèng) — incurable disease; fatal disease

Definition

noun

incurable diseasefatal disease

Measure word · 种

Examples

绝症，。
Tā dé le jué zhèng, yī shēng yě méi yǒu bàn fǎ.
He got an incurable disease, and even the doctor has no way.
绝症。
Zhè zhǒng jué zhèng mù qián hái méi yǒu yǒu xiào de zhì liáo fāng fǎ.
This incurable disease currently has no effective treatment.
绝症，。
Miàn duì jué zhèng, tā yī rán bǎo chí lè guān.
Facing an incurable disease, he still remains optimistic.

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.

绝juébeyond cure

症zhèngillness

The sense of 绝 as beyond cure and 症 as illness combine into a fatal disease.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

刀幺絕

刀刀dāoknife
幺幺yāosilk

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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.

Open 症 →

Appears in