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食物中毒 (shí wù zhòng dú) — food poisoning

Definition

noun
food poisoning

Examples

  • 食物中毒。
    Tā yīn wèi shí wù zhòng dú zhù le sān tiān yī yuàn.
    He was in the hospital for three days because of food poisoning.
  • 食物中毒。
    Chī hǎi xiān de shí hou yào xiǎo xīn shí wù zhòng dú.
    Be careful about food poisoning when eating seafood.
  • 食物中毒。
    Yī shēng shuō tā dé le shí wù zhòng dú.
    The doctor said he got food poisoning.

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.

食物food
食shífood物wùthing
偏正Modifier + head
中毒be poisoned
中zhōngcontract毒dúpoison
动宾Verb + object

The 食 (food) 物 (thing) and 中 (contract) 毒 (poison) combine to mean illness from tainted food.

Characters in this word

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

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →

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
牛牛niú
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù物wù
Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Open 物 →

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

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
屮屮chèvegetation
Sound part声符shēngfú
毐
毐ǎi毒dú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

Open 毒 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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