人体 (rén tǐ) — human body | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Formal/literary 'human body' (biology, science). 身体 is the everyday word for one's own body; 人体 emphasizes the human species in scientific contexts.

noun

human body

Measure word · 个

Easily confused

大体dà tǐlook-alike(adverb) generally, basically, on the whole

Examples

人体。
rén tǐ Měi tiān xū yào zú gòu de shuǐ hé shí wù.
The human body needs enough water and food every day.
人体。
Yùn dòng duì rén tǐ yǒu hěn duō hǎo chù.
Exercise has many benefits for the human body.
人体。
rén tǐ De zhèng cháng tǐ wēn shì sān shí liù dù zuǒ yòu.
The normal temperature of the human body is around 36 degrees.

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.

'人' means human and '体' means body, so it denotes a human body.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

骨豊體

Meaning part形符xíngfú

骨骨gǔbone

Sound part声符shēngfú

豊

豊lǐ體tǐ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Appears in

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