心室 (xīn shì) — ventricle (of the heart)

Definition

A heart anatomy term: the lower chamber(s) of the heart that pump blood out. Pairs with 心房 (atria) — the upper chambers that receive blood.

noun
ventricle (of the heart)
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 心室
    Zuǒ xīn shì fù zé jiāng hán yǎng de xuè yè bèng sòng dào quán shēn.
    The left ventricle is responsible for pumping oxygenated blood throughout the body.
  • 心室
    Yī shēng tōng guò chāo shēng jiǎn chá fā xiàn yòu cè xīn shì de gōng néng yǒu yì cháng.
    The doctor found an abnormality in the function of the right ventricle through an ultrasound examination.
  • 心室
    Xīn zàng de sì gè qiāng shì bāo kuò liǎng gè xīn fáng hé liǎng gè xīn shì.
    The four chambers of the heart include two atria and two ventricles.

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.

xīnheart
shìchamber

A 室 inside the 心 is a ventricle.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
zhìshì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

室 puts 宀 (roof) over 至, the spot where someone stops, giving the meaning of a house or residence.

Open 室 →

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