庸医 (yōng yī) — quack; charlatan (fraudulent or incompetent doc… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'mediocre doctor', 庸医 is a strongly negative term for a fraudulent or incompetent doctor. Refers to the person's character and practice, not to any specific medical act — a more neutral label for a bad doctor would be 差医生.

noun

quackcharlatan (fraudulent or incompetent doctor)

Measure word · 个

Examples

庸医，。
Zhè ge yōng yī gēn běn bú huì kàn bìng, zhī huì piàn qián.
This quack has no idea how to treat illnesses; he just cheats people out of their money.
庸医。
Dà jiā dōu shuō nà ge yōng yī zhì sǐ le hǎo jǐ gè bìng rén.
Everyone says that quack has killed several patients.
庸医，。
Qiān wàn bié qù zhǎo nà ge yōng yī, tā zhī huì kāi guì de yào.
Whatever you do, don't go to that quack; he only prescribes expensive 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.

庸yōngmediocre

医yīdoctor

A 医 who is 庸, mediocre, means a quack doctor.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

同

同tóng庸yōng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

庸 is built from 庚 and 同, with 同 giving the sound. It probably originally meant a large bell.

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.

殹酉醫

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.

Appears in

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