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病因 (bìng yīn) — cause of disease; etiology

Definition

noun
cause of diseaseetiology

Examples

  • 病因。
    Xī yān shì hěn duō jí bìng de bìng yīn.
    Smoking is the cause of many diseases.
  • 病因。
    Yī shēng zhèng zài diào chá zhè zhǒng bìng de bìng yīn.
    The doctor is investigating the cause of this disease.
  • 病因。
    Kē xué jiā zhǎo dào le zhè zhǒng hǎn jiàn bìng de bìng yīn.
    Scientists have found the cause of this rare disease.

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bìngdisease
因yīncause

病 for disease plus 因 for cause gives the cause of a disease.

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.

  • 囗囗wéisheet
  • 大大dàperson

Originally, 因 showed 大 (a person) on 囗 (a sheet or mattress).

Open 因 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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