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病魔 (bìng mó) — (literary) serious illness; the demon of disease (metaphor for a severe, lingering sickness)

Definition

Literary metaphor for a serious, lingering illness — literally 'demon of disease.' Used in writing or formal speech (e.g. 与病魔作斗争), not in everyday conversation.

noun
(literary) serious illnessthe demon of disease (metaphor for a severe, lingering sickness)

Examples

  • 病魔，病魔。
    Tā yǒng gǎn dì yǔ bìng mó zuò dòu zhēng, zhōng yú zhàn shèng le bìng mó.
    He fought bravely against the demon of disease and finally defeated it.
  • 病魔。
    bìng mó Duó zǒu le tā fù qīn de xìng mìng.
    The serious illness took her father's life.
  • 病魔，。
    Duō nián bèi bìng mó zhé mó, tā de shēn tǐ fēi cháng xū ruò.
    After years of being tormented by the disease demon, his body was extremely weak.

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
魔módemon

“病” illness and “魔” demon combine as a metaphor for a serious 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 →

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
鬼鬼guǐdemon
Sound part声符shēngfú
麻
麻má魔mó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

魔 pairs 鬼, meaning demon, with 麻, which gives the sound.

Open 魔 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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