沙门氏菌 (shā mén shì jūn) — Salmonella

Definition

noun

Salmonella

沙门氏菌。
Zhè zhǒng shí wù shòu dào le shā mén shì jūn de wū rǎn.
This food was contaminated by Salmonella.
沙门氏菌。
Yī shēng huái yí bìng rén gǎn rǎn le shā mén shì jūn.
The doctor suspects the patient is infected with Salmonella.
沙门氏菌。
shā mén shì jūn Shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de shí yuán xìng bìng yuán tǐ.
Salmonella is a common foodborne pathogen.

Characters in this word

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

沙 puts 少 (dots) beside 水 (water), showing sand on a shoreline.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

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

The shape of 氏 is debated: one reading shows a stick with a mark on top for a clan, while others show a person bending or a tree root.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹囷菌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

囷

囷qūn菌jūn

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

The top 艹 is a plant sign, and the lower 囷 gives the sound.