静脉炎 (jìng mài yán) — phlebitis | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Medical term for inflammation of a vein (phlebitis). 静脉 is 'vein'; 炎 means '-itis', inflammation — the same suffix as in 肝炎 and 肺炎.

noun

phlebitis

静脉炎。
Yī shēng zhěn duàn tā huàn yǒu jìng mài yán.
The doctor diagnosed him with phlebitis.
静脉炎。
Cháng qī wò chuáng róng yì yǐn qǐ jìng mài yán.
Long-term bed rest can easily cause phlebitis.
静脉炎。
Zhì liáo jìng mài yán xū yào xiū xi hé yào wù.
Treating phlebitis requires rest and medication.

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.

静脉vein

偏正Modifier + head

炎yáninflammation

静脉 names the veins and 炎 names inflammation, so the whole word means inflammation of the veins.

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 靜; 静 is its simplified writing.

青爭靜

The traditional form 靜, not the simplified 静, uses 青 and 爭 for sound; an old source also treats 青 (blue) as a meaning part.

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 脈; 脉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠂢

𠂢𠂢脈mài

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

The traditional form 脈 pairs ⺼ (flesh) with a sound part, 𠂢; the simplified 脉 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the historical sound part.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

火火炎

炎 places two 火 (fire) shapes vertically, one above the other, to show fire doubled.