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病人 (bìng rén) — patient, sick person

Definition

病人 is a sick person or patient — the everyday word for someone who is ill. Don't confuse with 病, which is the illness itself, not the person.

noun
patientsick person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 病人。
    Yī shēng ràng bìng rén měi tiān chī yào.
    The doctor tells the patient to take medicine every day.
  • 病人。
    Zhè ge bìng rén jīn tiān hǎo duō le.
    This patient is much better today.
  • 病人，。
    bìng rén Yào duō hē shuǐ, duō xiū xi.
    The patient should drink more water and rest more.

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.

病bìngillness
人rénperson

病 means illness and 人 means person; together they name a person who is ill.

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
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 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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