癌 (ái) — cancer
Definition
A short form of 癌症 — same meaning ('cancer'), but less common on its own. You'll usually see it as part of a compound like 癌症.
noun
cancer
Measure word · 种
Examples
- 。Tā qù nián bèi zhěn duàn chū huàn yǒu ái zhèng.She was diagnosed with cancer last year.
- 癌。Xiàn dài yī xué duì mǒu xiē ái yǐ jīng yǒu le hěn hǎo de zhì liáo fāng fǎ.Modern medicine has good treatments for certain cancers.
- 。Dìng qī tǐ jiǎn yǒu zhù yú zǎo qī fā xiàn ái zhèng.Regular check-ups help detect cancer early.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
嵒
嵒yán癌
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
癌 combines 疒 (disease) with 嵒, a component used for its sound.
Appears in
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