肉瘤 (ròu liú) — sarcoma

Definition

A 肉瘤 (ròuliú) is a sarcoma — a malignant tumor arising from connective tissue such as bone, muscle, or fat, not an ordinary lump. In everyday medical contexts, a benign fatty growth is usually called 脂肪瘤 rather than 肉瘤.

noun
sarcoma

Examples

  • 肉瘤。
    Yī shēng shuō tā tuǐ shàng de ròu liú shì liáng xìng de.
    The doctor said the sarcoma on his leg is benign.
  • 肉瘤。
    Zhè zhǒng ròu liú xū yào jǐn kuài shǒu shù qiē chú.
    This type of sarcoma needs to be surgically removed as soon as possible.
  • 肉瘤。
    Huà liáo duì mǒu xiē ròu liú xiào guǒ hěn hǎo.
    Chemotherapy works well for some sarcomas.

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.

肉ròuflesh
瘤liútumor

肉 means flesh, and 瘤 means tumor.

Characters in this word

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

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

Open 肉 →

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nèillness
Sound part声符shēngfú
留
留liú瘤liú
Same sound today

瘤 pairs 疒, an illness part, with 留, which gives its sound.

Open 瘤 →

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