Kilo Lingo

(yī shēng) - doctor, physician in Mandarin

shēng

Traditional: 醫生

Line drawing of 医生
Coloured illustration of 医生
HSK 2
#299 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

doctor, physician

Word origin

A compound of 医 (yī, 'medicine, to heal') and 生 (shēng, 'person, one who'), so 'one who heals'. The simplified 医 is based on the quiver-and-arrow element of the older form 醫; 生 is a pictograph of a sprouting plant.

Origin
compound
Root
医 (yī, 'medicine, to heal') + 生 (shēng, 'person, one who')

Stroke order

Stroke order for 医

Stroke order for 生

Examples

I am a doctor.

Go see a doctor.

The doctor says I am healthy.

The doctor told me to drink more water.

She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

医生 (yī shēng) means doctor, physician. It is used as a noun in everyday Mandarin speech.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 6.