病原菌 (bìng yuán jūn) — pathogenic bacteria

Definition

noun
pathogenic bacteria
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 病原菌。
    Zhè zhǒng bìng yuán jūn huì yǐn qǐ yán zhòng de chuán rǎn bìng.
    This kind of pathogenic bacteria can cause serious infectious diseases.
  • 病原菌。
    Yī shēng zhèng zài shí yàn shì lǐ yán jiū bìng yuán jūn de tè xìng.
    The doctor is studying the characteristics of pathogenic bacteria in the lab.
  • 病原菌。
    Wǒ men de rèn wu jiù shì chè dǐ xiāo miè zhè xiē bìng yuán jūn.
    Our task is to completely eliminate these pathogenic bacteria.

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.

病原disease source
病bìngdisease原yuánsource
偏正Modifier + head
菌jūnbacterium

A disease source and a bacterium name a microbe that causes illness.

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 →

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

原 combines 泉 (spring) and 厂 (cliff), picturing a spring bursting from a cliff-side, which gives the sense of origin or source.

Open 原 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
囷
囷qūn菌jūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艹 is a plant sign, and the lower 囷 gives the sound.

Open 菌 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.