全身性 (quán shēn xìng) — (noun) systemic nature; whole-body nature; (attributive) systemic; affecting the entire body

Definition

A formal, technical adjective/noun meaning 'systemic' — affects or describes the whole body, not one part. Used almost entirely in medical contexts (e.g. 全身性感染, 全身性疾病).

noun
systemic naturewhole-body nature(attributive) systemicaffecting the entire body

Examples

  • 全身性。
    Yī shēng què zhěn zhè shì yì zhǒng quán shēn xìng jí bìng.
    The doctor diagnosed this as a systemic disease.
  • 全身性。
    Zhè zhǒng bìng dú huì yǐn qǐ quán shēn xìng gǎn rǎn.
    This virus can cause a systemic infection.
  • 全身性。
    Zhì liáo bì xū kǎo lǜ huàn zhě de quán shēn xìng zhèng zhuàng.
    Treatment must take the patient's systemic symptoms into account.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

全身
全quánwhole身shēnbody
偏正Modifier + head
性xìngnature

全身 (whole body) and 性 (nature) give the sense of affecting the entire body.

Characters in this word

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.