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炎症 (yán zhèng) — inflammation

Definition

炎症 (yánzhèng) is the medical noun for 'inflammation' as a condition. 发炎 is the verb phrase 'to become inflamed'; 肺炎 refers specifically to lung inflammation (pneumonia).

noun
inflammation

Examples

  • 炎症，。
    Yī shēng shuō wǒ hóu long yǒu diǎn yán zhèng, yào duō hē shuǐ.
    The doctor said I have some inflammation in my throat and should drink more water.
  • 炎症。
    Zhè zhǒng yào néng yǒu xiào huǎn jiě pí fū yán zhèng.
    This medicine can effectively relieve skin inflammation.
  • 炎症，。
    yán zhèng Xiāo tuì hòu, shāng kǒu màn màn yù hé le.
    After the inflammation subsided, the wound healed slowly.

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.

炎yáninflammation; heat
症zhèngillness; symptom

“炎症” combines “炎” (inflammation) and “症” (illness), meaning an inflammatory condition.

Characters in this word

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

炎 places two 火 (fire) shapes vertically, one above the other, to show fire doubled.

Open 炎 →

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nèdisease
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng症zhèng
Same sound today

The left part 疒 shows it is about disease. The right part 正 is used for the sound.

Open 症 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Illness & Symptoms

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.