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胃癌 (wèi ái) — stomach cancer

Definition

noun
stomach cancer

Examples

  • 胃癌。
    Tā fù qīn qù nián bèi zhěn duàn chū wèi ái.
    His father was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year.
  • 胃癌。
    Zǎo qī wèi ái shì kě yǐ zhì yù de.
    Early-stage stomach cancer can be cured.
  • 胃癌。
    Xī yān hé yǐn jiǔ huì zēng jiā huàn wèi ái de fēng xiǎn.
    Smoking and drinking increase the risk of developing stomach 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.

胃wèistomach
癌áicancer

胃 means stomach and 癌 means cancer; together they denote cancer of the stomach.

Characters in this word

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.

Open 胃 →

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
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.

Open 癌 →
Appears in
Illness & Symptoms

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