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流行病 (liú xíng bìng) — epidemic disease; epidemic

Definition

A disease that spreads widely to many people in a region at the same time. Pairs with 爆发 (break out) and 预防 (prevent), as in the examples.

noun
epidemic diseaseepidemic
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 流行病。
    Zhè ge chéng shì bào fā le yì zhǒng liú xíng bìng.
    An epidemic broke out in this city.
  • 流行病。
    Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū rú hé yù fáng liú xíng bìng.
    Scientists are researching how to prevent epidemics.
  • 流行病。
    Lì shǐ shàng jǐ cì dà de liú xíng bìng gǎi biàn le shì jiè.
    Several major epidemics in history changed the world.

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.

流行spread
流liúflow行xínggo
联合Coordinate
病bìngdisease

流行, made from 流 and 行, gives spreading, and 病 is disease.

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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
疒疒nèsickness
Sound part声符shēngfú
丙
丙bǐng病bìng
Same sound today

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.

Open 病 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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