院方 (yuàn fāng) — the hospital authorities; the hospital's side (in formal contexts)

Definition

Formal written noun referring to the hospital as an institution — the administration or authorities, not individual staff. Typically used in news, official statements, or disputes (e.g. between 院方 and 患者家属).

noun
the hospital authoritiesthe hospital's side (in formal contexts)

Examples

  • 院方。
    yuàn fāng Biǎo shì huì jǐn kuài chǔ lǐ zhè jiàn shì.
    The hospital authorities said they will handle this matter as soon as possible.
  • 院方。
    Huàn zhě jiā shǔ zhèng zài hé yuàn fāng gōu tōng.
    The patient's family is communicating with the hospital.
  • 院方。
    yuàn fāng Jué dìng qǔ xiāo míng tiān de mén zhěn.
    The hospital decided to cancel tomorrow's outpatient services.

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.

院yuànhospital
方fāngside

院 names the institution, and 方 marks its side, giving the hospital authorities.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
完
完wán院yuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →

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