儿科 (ér kē) — pediatrics; pediatric department

Definition

The medical department specializing in children. 儿童 refers to the children themselves; 儿科 refers to the medical specialty/ward that treats them.

noun

pediatricspediatric department

Measure word · 个

儿科，。
Tā shì yì míng ér kē yī shēng, zhuān mén zhì liáo gǎn mào fā shāo.
She is a pediatrician, specializing in treating colds and fevers.
儿科，。
Zhè jiā yī yuàn de ér kē hěn yǒu míng, hěn duō fù mǔ dōu dài hái zi lái.
The pediatrics department at this hospital is very famous; many parents bring their children here.
儿科，。
Wǒ dì di zài ér kē shí xí, měi tiān hé xiǎo péng yǒu men yì qǐ gōng zuò.
My younger brother is interning in pediatrics, working with children every day.

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.

科kēdepartment

儿 points to children, and 科 names a department or field, so together they mean pediatrics.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

禾斗科

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斗斗dòumeasuring tool

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

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

科 pairs 禾, which gives the hé sound, with 斗, a measuring tool.

Appears in