脑血栓 (nǎo xuè shuān) — cerebral thrombosis

Definition

noun
cerebral thrombosis

Examples

  • 脑血栓。
    Yī shēng shuō tā dé le nǎo xuè shuān.
    The doctor said he got cerebral thrombosis.
  • 脑血栓。
    nǎo xuè shuān Shì yì zhǒng yán zhòng de nǎo xuè guǎn jí bìng.
    Cerebral thrombosis is a serious cerebrovascular disease.
  • 脑血栓，。
    Lǎo nián rén yào yù fáng nǎo xuè shuān, zhù yì yǐn shí hé yùn dòng.
    Elderly people should prevent cerebral thrombosis by paying attention to diet and exercise.

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.

脑nǎobrain
血栓blood plug
血xuèblood栓shuānplug
偏正Modifier + head

脑 refers to the brain; 血 and 栓 mean blood and plug, giving cerebral thrombosis.

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 腦; 脑 is its simplified writing.

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 巛巛chuānhair
  • 囟囟xìnhead; fontanel

In the traditional form 腦, the older part 匕 was replaced by a flesh part, while 巛 (hair) and 囟 (head; fontanel) stayed. The simplified 脑 is a later abbreviation.

Open 脑 →

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

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
全
全quán栓shuān
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

栓 pairs 木 (wood) with 全 as a sound part; the source describes it as a wooden peg.

Open 栓 →

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