胰岛素 (yí dǎo sù) — insulin | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

insulin

Examples

胰岛素。
yí dǎo sù Shì zhì liáo táng niào bìng de zhòng yào yào wù.
Insulin is an important medication for treating diabetes.
胰岛素。
Tā měi tiān dōu xū yào zhù shè yí dǎo sù.
He needs to inject insulin every day.
胰岛素。
Yī shēng gěi tā kāi le yí dǎo sù chǔ fāng.
The doctor prescribed insulin for him.

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.

胰岛pancreatic islet

胰yípancreas岛dǎoislet

偏正Modifier + head

素sùelement

胰 names the pancreas, 岛 names an islet, 素 names an element; together they denote insulin.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 島; 岛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

鳥

鳥niǎo島dǎo

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

The traditional form 島 uses 山, meaning mountain, and 鳥 for the sound. The simplified 岛 is a later shorthand.

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

The shape of 素 came from a picture of hands braiding thread.

Appears in

Medicine & Treatment

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