问诊 (wèn zhěn) — (noun) diagnostic interview, patient history-taking; (verb) to take a patient's history, to interview for diagnosis

Definition

问诊 (wèn zhěn) is the medical-history step: the doctor asks the patient questions to gather symptoms and background before diagnosing. Used as both a noun ('diagnostic interview') and a verb ('to take a history').

noun
diagnostic interviewpatient history-taking
verb
to take a patient's historyto interview for diagnosis
Easily confused

Examples

  • 问诊。
    Yī shēng zhèng zài gěi bìng rén wèn zhěn.
    The doctor is taking the patient's history.
  • 问诊。
    wèn zhěn Shì zhěn duàn de dì yī bù.
    The diagnostic interview is the first step of diagnosis.
  • 问诊，。
    Jīng guò zǐ xì de wèn zhěn, yī shēng zhǎo dào le bìng yīn.
    After a careful history-taking, the doctor found the cause of the illness.

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.

问wènask
诊zhěndiagnosis

“问” means asking and “诊” means diagnosis, so it refers to a diagnostic interview.

Characters in this word

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 問; 问 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén問wèn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 問 combines 口 (mouth) with 門, which gives the sound; the simplified 问 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 问 →

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 診; 诊 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐱
㐱㐱診zhěn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 診, the left part 言 relates to speech, and the right part 㐱 gives the sound; the simplified 诊 is a later shorthand.

Open 诊 →

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