脚气 (jiǎo qì) — athlete's foot (colloquial); beriberi (medical)

Definition

The colloquial 脚气 means 'athlete's foot' (itchy foot fungus); the older medical sense 'beriberi' is a different condition caused by vitamin deficiency. In modern speech 脚气 almost always means athlete's foot.

noun
athlete's foot (colloquial)beriberi (medical)

Examples

  • 脚气，。
    Wǒ zuì jìn dé le jiǎo qì, jiǎo hěn yǎng.
    I recently got athlete's foot, and my feet are very itchy.
  • ，脚气。
    Guò qù chuán shàng quē shǎo xīn xiān shū cài, hěn duō shuǐ shǒu dé le jiǎo qì.
    In the past, ships lacked fresh vegetables, and many sailors got beriberi.
  • 脚气，。
    Yī shēng shuō wǒ zhè bú shì jiǎo qì, shì pǔ tōng de pí fū guò mǐn.
    The doctor said I don't have athlete's foot; it's just a common skin allergy.

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.

脚jiǎofoot
气qìqi

脚 is foot and 气 names the ailment, together referring to a foot disease.

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 腳; 脚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat, body
Sound part声符shēngfú
卻
卻què腳jiǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 腳 uses ⺼ for a body part and 卻 for the sound; the simplified 脚 is a later shorthand.

Open 脚 →

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →

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