癌症 (ái zhèng) — cancer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

癌症 specifically refers to cancer as a malignant disease. 肿瘤 is the broader category of tumors (both benign and malignant); 癌 is the short, often technical form of 癌症.

noun

cancer

Examples

癌症。
Xī yān róng yì dǎo zhì ái zhèng.
Smoking easily leads to cancer.
癌症。
Hěn duō ái zhèng huàn zhě kě yǐ cháng qī cún huó.
Many cancer patients can survive long-term.
癌症。
Kē xué jiā zhèng zài yán jiū ái zhèng de bìng yīn.
Scientists are studying the causes of cancer.

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.

癌áicancer

症zhèngdisease

癌 names the disease and 症 marks it as an illness, together meaning cancer.

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.

疒嵒癌

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

疒正症

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.

Appears in

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