TongTong
Sign in

症状 (zhèng zhuàng) — symptom (of an illness)

Definition

A specific observable sign of an illness (fever, cough, etc.), not the illness itself. Unlike 病情 ('state of an illness'), 症状 names the individual signs; 病症 names the disease.

noun
symptom (of an illness)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 症状。
    Gǎn mào de zhèng zhuàng bāo kuò fā shāo hé ké sou.
    Symptoms of a cold include fever and cough.
  • 症状，。
    Zhè zhǒng zhèng zhuàng hěn cháng jiàn, bú yòng tài dān xīn.
    This kind of symptom is very common; don't worry too much.
  • 症状。
    Tā de zhèng zhuàng yǐ jīng xiāo shī le.
    His symptoms have already disappeared.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

症zhèngillness/symptom
状zhuàngcondition/appearance

症 and 状 refer to illness and observable condition, together naming a symptom.

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nèdisease
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng症zhèng
Same sound today

The left part 疒 shows it is about disease. The right part 正 is used for the sound.

Open 症 →

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 狀; 状 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
爿
爿pán狀zhuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 狀 pairs 犬 (dog) with 爿 as a sound component; the simplified 状 is a shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 状 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Illness & Symptoms3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.