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老年痴呆症 (lǎo nián chī dāi zhèng) — senile dementia; Alzheimer's disease (common term)

Definition

A medical term for senile dementia, commonly used in everyday speech to refer to Alzheimer's disease. It describes the progressive loss of memory and cognitive function in older adults.

noun
senile dementiaAlzheimer's disease (common term)

Examples

  • 老年痴呆症。
    Tā de nǎi nai huàn shàng le lǎo nián chī dāi zhèng.
    His grandmother has contracted senile dementia.
  • 老年痴呆症。
    Zǎo qī fā xiàn lǎo nián chī dāi zhèng fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    Early detection of Alzheimer's disease is very important.
  • 老年痴呆症。
    Xiàn zài hái méi yǒu zhì yù lǎo nián chī dāi zhèng de fāng fǎ.
    There is still no cure for senile dementia.

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.

老年old age
老lǎoold年niánage
偏正Modifier + head
痴呆症dementia
痴chīfoolish呆dāistupid症zhèngdisease
偏正Modifier + head

老年 points to old age, while 痴呆 describes dullness and 症 names a disease, giving dementia in old age.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 痴 →

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

呆 combines 口 (mouth) and 木 (wood) to show something dull or wooden, which came to mean foolish.

Open 呆 →

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
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
Mental HealthIllness & Symptoms

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