肠胃 (cháng wèi) — intestines and stomach (the digestive organs);…

Definition

noun

intestines and stomach (the digestive organs)belly (colloquial, referring to the digestive system)

肠胃，。
Tā zuì jìn cháng wèi bú tài hǎo, zǒng shì lā dù zi.
His digestion hasn't been good lately; he always has diarrhea.
肠胃。
Chī tài duō là de huì cì jī cháng wèi.
Eating too much spicy food will irritate your stomach and intestines.
肠胃。
Zhōng yī rèn wéi cháng wèi jiàn kāng duì quán shēn dōu hěn zhòng yào.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that digestive health is very important for the whole body.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

肠 and 胃 are parallel digestive organs, together naming the belly.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 腸; 肠 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

昜

昜yáng腸cháng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 腸 pairs 肉, the body, with 昜, which gives the sound; the simplified 肠 is a later shorthand.

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

胃 originally drew a stomach with food inside, first as concentric circles and later with a grain-like mark in the middle.

Appears in