医生

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 医生 (yī shēng) for "doctor" is composed of two characters: 医 (yī) and 生 (shēng). The character 医 originally meant "to treat an illness" or "to cure a disease". It is composed of the radical 殳 (shū), which represents a weapon or tool, and the character 殳 (yī), which represents a person. This suggests that the original meaning of 医 was "to use a tool or weapon to treat an illness". The character 生 originally meant "to give birth" or "to be born". It is composed of the radical 人 (rén), which represents a person, and the character 口 (kǒu), which represents a mouth. This suggests that the original meaning of 生 was "to come out of a person's mouth". Over time, the character 生 came to be used in a more general sense to mean "life" or "to live". The combination of the characters 医 and 生 in the word 医生 (yī shēng) thus suggests the idea of a person who treats illnesses and helps people to live.