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医学 (yī xué) — medicine; medical science

Definition

医学 (yīxué) is 'medicine' as a field of study or science — not pills or drugs. Contrast with 药 and 药物/药品, which name the substances or products taken to treat illness.

noun
medicinemedical science
Measure word · 门

Examples

  • 医学。
    Tā zài yì suǒ dà xué xué xí yī xué.
    She studies medicine at a university.
  • 医学。
    yī xué De jìn bù ràng rén men de shòu mìng gèng cháng.
    Advances in medicine have made people live longer.
  • 医学。
    Zhè wèi yī shēng yǒu fēng fù de yī xué jīng yàn.
    This doctor has extensive experience in medicine.

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.

医yīmedicine
学xuéstudy

医 points to medicine, and 学 is the study or science, giving the science of medicine.

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 醫; 医 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
酉酉yǒuliquor
Sound part声符shēngfú
殹
殹yì醫yī
Same sound today

The traditional form 醫 pairs 酉 (liquor) with 殹 as a sound part; the simplified 医 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 医 →

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Medicine & Treatment5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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