肺 (fèi): lung; lungs

Meanings

1 lung; lungs

Characters

肺

fèi

lung

Examples

吸烟对肺有很大的伤害。

Xīyān duì fèi yǒu hěn dà de shānghài.

Smoking causes great harm to the lungs.

他得了肺炎。

Tā déle fèiyán.

He got pneumonia.

深呼吸对肺很好。

Shēnhūxī duì fèi hěn hǎo.

Deep breathing is good for the lungs.

医生检查了他的肺部。

Yīshēng jiǎnchá le tā de fèibù.

The doctor examined his lungs.

Tips

usage

Medical compounds: 肺炎 (fèiyán, pneumonia), 肺癌 (fèi'ái, lung cancer), 肺部 (fèibù, lung area/region), 肺活量 (fèihuóliàng, lung capacity). The idiom 肺腑之言 (fèifǔ zhī yán) means 'words from the bottom of one's heart.'

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

flesh; body-tissue (radical form)

Flesh radical on the left — the side-form of 肉 (meat), visually identical to 月 (moon) in modern type. Marks 肺 as a body-organ noun: same radical anchors 肝 (liver), 肾 (kidney), 胃 (stomach), 脑 (brain), 脏 (organ). Whenever you see this 月-shape on the LEFT of a body part, read it as flesh, not moon.

phonetic

巿 fú

knee-cover; ceremonial apron

Right side 巿 (4 strokes — note this is NOT 市 'market' which has 5 strokes) supplies the sound: fú → fèi with vowel and tone drift. The phonetic is rare today, surviving mainly in 肺 and 沛. 巿 originally pictured a hanging knee-cloth worn at court; the meaning is incidental, role is purely phonetic.