冻疮 (dòng chuāng) — chilblain; frostbite (colloquial)

Definition

A skin condition caused by cold and damp — red, itchy, swollen spots, usually on hands, feet, or ears. In English it is usually called 'chilblain' (not the more serious 'frostbite').

noun
chilblainfrostbite (colloquial)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，冻疮，。
    Dōng tiān dào le, wǒ de shǒu shàng cháng le dòng chuāng, yòu yǎng yòu téng.
    Winter has come, and I have chilblains on my hands — both itchy and painful.
  • 冻疮。
    Yòng rè shuǐ pào jiǎo kě yǐ huǎn jiě dòng chuāng de zhèng zhuàng.
    Soaking your feet in hot water can relieve the symptoms of chilblains.
  • ，冻疮。
    Tā qù nián zài xuě dì lǐ dài le tài jiǔ, jiǎo shàng dé le dòng chuāng.
    He stayed too long in the snow last year and got chilblains on his feet.

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.

冻dòngfreezing
疮chuāngsore

冻 refers to freezing or cold injury, and 疮 is a sore, giving the sense of a sore caused by freezing.

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 凍; 冻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīng
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng凍dòng
Same sound today

The traditional form 凍 pairs 冫 (ice) with 東 for the sound; the simplified 冻 is a later shorthand.

Open 冻 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 疮 →

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