疗养院 (liáo yǎng yuàn) — convalescent home, sanitarium

Definition

A residential facility where people, often the elderly, stay to recover from illness or to rest in a calm environment. The measure word is 家.

noun

convalescent homesanitarium

Measure word · 家

Examples

疗养院。
Wǒ nǎi nai tuì xiū yǐ hòu jiù zhù jìn le jiāo qū de liáo yǎng yuàn.
My grandmother moved into a convalescent home in the suburbs after retirement.
疗养院，。
Zhè zuò liáo yǎng yuàn huán jìng yōu měi, fēi cháng shì hé lǎo nián rén xiū yǎng.
This sanitarium has a beautiful environment and is very suitable for the elderly to recuperate.
疗养院。
Měi gè zhōu mò wǒ dōu huì qù liáo yǎng yuàn kàn wàng yé ye.
I go to visit my grandpa at the convalescent home every weekend.

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.

疗养convalescence

疗liáotreat养yǎngnurse

联合Coordinate

院yuàninstitution

疗 treat and 养 nurse build convalescence, and 院 makes it a place.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 療; 疗 is its simplified writing.

疒尞療

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèdisease

Sound part声符shēngfú

尞

尞liáo療liáo

Same sound today

The traditional form 療 has 疒 for disease and 尞 for the sound; the simplified 疗 is a later shorthand, so its visible parts are not the historical ones.

Open 疗 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.