白血病 (bái xuè bìng) — leukemia | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

leukemia

Examples

白血病。
Yī shēng zhěn duàn tā dé le bái xuè bìng.
The doctor diagnosed him with leukemia.
白血病。
Zhì liáo bái xuè bìng xū yào hěn cháng de shí jiān hé nài xīn.
Treating leukemia requires a long time and patience.
白血病。
Hěn duō bái xuè bìng huàn zhě tōng guò huà liáo dé dào le huǎn jiě.
Many leukemia patients achieve remission through chemotherapy.

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.

白血white blood

白báiwhite血xuèblood

偏正Modifier + head

病bìngdisease

“白” gives white, “血” gives blood, and “病” gives disease, naming leukemia as a white-blood disease.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

一一yīdrop of blood
皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

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

疒丙病

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.

Appears in

Illness & Symptoms

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.