护士长 (hù shì cháng) — head nurse | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

head nurse

Measure word · 位

护士长。
hù shì cháng Měi tiān dōu yào jiǎn chá bìng fáng de wèi shēng qíng kuàng.
The head nurse checks the hygiene of the wards every day.
护士长。
Zhè wèi hù shì cháng yǒu èr shí nián de gōng zuò jīng yàn.
This head nurse has twenty years of work experience.
护士长。
Xīn lái de hù shì cháng duì dà jiā yāo qiú hěn yán gé.
The new head nurse is very strict with everyone.

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.

护士nurse

偏正Modifier + head

护士 (nurse) comes from 护 (protect) and 士 (person), and 长 (chief) marks the leading role.

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.

扌户护

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

户

Same sound today

护 combines 扌 (the hand form 手) with 户, which gives the sound hù.

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Appears in