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昏睡 (hūn shuì) — to sleep lethargically; to be in a stupor or coma

Definition

A verb for sleeping in an abnormally heavy, unresponsive state — a stupor or coma, not ordinary sleep. Contrasts with 睡觉 (neutral 'to sleep') and 瞌睡 (a brief drowsy nap).

verb
to sleep lethargicallyto be in a stupor or coma

Examples

  • 昏睡。
    Tā zuó tiān hūn shuì le yì zhěng tiān.
    He slept lethargically for a whole day yesterday.
  • 昏睡，。
    Bìng rén yì zhí hūn shuì, méi yǒu xǐng lái.
    The patient has been in a stupor and hasn't woken up.
  • 昏睡。
    Tā yīn wèi fā shāo ér hūn shuì bù xǐng.
    He was in a comatose sleep due to a fever and wouldn't wake up.

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.

昏hūnlethargic
睡shuìsleep

“昏” conveys dazed or lethargic and “睡” conveys sleep, together naming a stuporous sleep.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

昏 combines 日 (sun) with 氏, a part showing lowering or going down. The picture is the sun going down at dusk.

Open 昏 →

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
垂
垂chuí睡shuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

睡 combines 目, an eye, with 垂, which gives its sound.

Open 睡 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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