感染
The English word 'infection' translates to Chinese as 感染.
The term 感染 refers to the general concept of becoming infected and is used in medical and scientific contexts. To describe the act of transmitting or spreading an infection to others, use 传染.
Meaning: disease (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The character 染 in 感染 means to dye, stain or contaminate.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word 感染 can function as both a noun (infection) and a verb (to infect). Adding the particle 了 after 感染 to create 感染了 creates the sense that an infection has occurred or a person has been infected.
Did you know?
- While 感染 describes the biological process, the term 感染力 uses the exact same characters to describe a person's 'charisma' or 'influence'. It describes someone whose personality 'infects' or deeply moves others.
- The word 染 can also appear in 染指, a phrase meaning to 'lay a finger on' or interfere with something. It uses the 'stain' meaning of 染 to imply that touching something corrupts it.
- The character 感 in 感染 also means 'to feel' or 'sense'. This creates a linguistic overlap where the word for 'infection' literally shares a root with the word for 'emotion' or 'sensation'.
Examples in context
- 医生诊断他感染了流感。The doctor diagnosed him with influenza.
- 她得了传染病，应该隔离。She got an infectious disease, so she should be isolated.
- 我得了肺炎。I got infected with pneumonia.
- 细菌感染Bacterial infection
- 伤口发生了感染。Shāngkǒu fāshēngle gǎnrǎn.The wound has become infected.
- 这种病毒会导致肺部感染。Zhè zhǒng bìngdú huì dǎozhì fèibù gǎnrǎn.This virus can cause lung infection.
- 我们要预防细菌感染。Wǒmen yào yùfáng xìjūn gǎnrǎn.We need to prevent bacterial infection.
Example conversation
Hao Ran and Yu Ting are talking about a friend's injury at a hospital.
- 浩然 Haoran他的伤口怎么样了？Tā de shāngkǒu zěnmeyàng le?How is his wound?
- 雨婷 Yuting医生说有严重的感染。Yīshēng shuō yǒu yánzhòng de gǎnrǎn.The doctor said there is a serious infection.
- 浩然 Haoran那他需要住院吗？Nà tā xūyào zhùyuàn ma?Does he need to be hospitalized then?
- 雨婷 Yuting是的，需要观察几天。Shì de, xūyào guānchá jǐ tiān.Yes, he needs to be observed for a few days.
