发病率 (fā bìng lǜ) — incidence rate (of disease)

Definition

A medical/epidemiological term for the rate at which new cases of a disease appear in a population over a period. Focuses on new occurrences, unlike 患病率, which counts all existing cases at a given time.

noun
incidence rate (of disease)

Examples

  • 发病率。
    Zhè lǐ de ái zhèng fā bìng lǜ zhú nián shàng shēng.
    The cancer incidence rate here is rising year by year.
  • ，发病率。
    Gēn jù zuì xīn shù jù, gāi bìng de fā bìng lǜ yǒu suǒ xià jiàng.
    According to the latest data, the incidence rate of this disease has decreased.
  • 发病率。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng nǔ lì jiàng dī zhè zhǒng chuán rǎn bìng de fā bìng lǜ.
    The government is working hard to reduce the incidence rate of this infectious disease.

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.

发病fall ill
发fādevelop病bìngillness
动宾Verb + object
率lǜrate

发病 means fall ill or become sick, and 率 means rate, so it is the rate of illness.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

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
疒疒nèsickness
Sound part声符shēngfú
丙
丙bǐng病bìng
Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

Open 病 →

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

率 was drawn as a bird-catching net, with a stick above and below. In the form described, the lower horizontal stroke is missing, so the whole shape represents a rope.

Open 率 →

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