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食道 (shí dào) — esophagus

Definition

Medical term for the esophagus — the muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. In everyday speech, 食管 (more common colloquially) is used just as often.

noun
esophagus
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 食道。
    Yī shēng yòng nèi kuī jìng jiǎn chá le tā de shí dào.
    The doctor examined his esophagus with an endoscope.
  • 食道。
    shí dào Shì lián jiē kǒu qiāng hé wèi de zhòng yào qì guān.
    The esophagus is an important organ connecting the mouth and stomach.
  • 食道。
    Cháng qī chī tàng de shí wù róng yì sǔn shāng shí dào.
    Eating very hot food over a long time can damage the esophagus.

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.

食shífood
道dàopassage

食 (food) + 道 (passage) names the tube through which food travels.

Characters in this word

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

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →
Appears in
Organs & Anatomy

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