胃镜 (wèi jìng) — gastroscope (the medical instrument); gastroscopy (the procedure)

Definition

胃镜 (wèijìng) refers to BOTH the scope and the exam itself — context tells you which: 做胃镜 means 'to have a gastroscopy', while 检查胃镜 means examining the instrument or images.

noun
gastroscope (the medical instrument)gastroscopy (the procedure)
Measure word · 台

Examples

  • 胃镜。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā zuò yí cì wèi jìng jiǎn chá.
    The doctor recommended he undergo a gastroscopy examination.
  • 胃镜。
    wèi jìng De jié guǒ xiǎn shì tā de wèi bù méi yǒu yì cháng.
    The gastroscopy results showed no abnormalities in his stomach.
  • 胃镜。
    Zuò wèi jìng qián xū yào kōng fù bā xiǎo shí.
    You need to fast for eight hours before having a gastroscopy.

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.

胃wèistomach
镜jìngscope

胃 indicates the stomach and 镜 a viewing instrument, together denoting a gastroscope.

Characters in this word

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

胃 originally drew a stomach with food inside, first as concentric circles and later with a grain-like mark in the middle.

Open 胃 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鏡; 镜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
竟
竟jìng鏡jìng
Same sound today

The traditional form 鏡 puts 金, metal, next to 竟 to give the sound. The simplified 镜 is a later shorthand.

Open 镜 →

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