预后 (yù hòu) — prognosis

Definition

A medical term for a doctor's forecast of how a disease or condition will develop (recovery, complications, outcome).

noun
prognosis

Examples

  • 预后。
    Yī shēng duì bìng rén de yù hòu hěn lè guān.
    The doctor's prognosis for the patient is very optimistic.
  • 预后，。
    Gēn jù yù hòu, tā xū yào zhù yuàn zhì liáo.
    According to the prognosis, he needs hospitalization.
  • ，预后。
    Shǒu shù hòu, yī shēng de yù hòu hěn zhǔn què.
    After the surgery, the doctor's prognosis was accurate.

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.

预yùfore
后hòuafter

预 points to the future, and 后 names the course after treatment, giving the idea of prognosis.

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 預; 预 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
予
予yǔ預yù
Same sound today

The traditional form 預 combines 予 for the sound and 頁 for the meaning; the simplified 预 is a later shorthand.

Open 预 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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