湿气 (shī qì) — moisture, dampness (in the environment); (in traditional Chinese medicine) dampness as a pathogenic factor; (colloquial) eczema, athlete's foot

Definition

One word with three distinct uses: physical moisture in the air, a TCM 'dampness' pathogen blamed for many illnesses, and colloquially a catch-all for itchy skin conditions like eczema or athlete's foot.

noun
moisturedampness (in the environment)(in traditional Chinese medicine) dampness as a pathogenic factor(colloquial) eczemaathlete's foot

Examples

  • 湿气，。
    Zhè jiān wū zi shī qì tài zhòng, yī fu dōu fā méi le.
    This room is so damp that the clothes have all mildewed.
  • 湿气。
    Zhōng yī rèn wéi shī qì shì hěn duō jí bìng de gēn yuán.
    Traditional Chinese medicine believes that dampness is the root cause of many diseases.
  • 湿气，。
    Tā zuì jìn cháng le shī qì, yǎng dé shuì bù hǎo jué.
    He recently developed athlete's foot and itches so much he can't sleep well.

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.

湿shīwet
气qìvapor

“湿” describes wetness and “气” is vapor or air, forming the idea of dampness.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 湿 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →

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