Chinese word

发病

Pronunciation

Pinyinfā bìng

他昨天晚上发病了，现在在家休息。tā zuó tiān wǎn shàng fā bìng le xiàn zài zài jiā xiū xī

He got sick last night and is resting at home now.

病人复诊时说最近又反复发病，需要调整治疗。bìng rén fù zhěn shí shuō zuì jìn yòu fǎn fù fā bìng xū yào tiáo zhěng zhì liáo

At a follow-up visit, the patient said they had been falling ill again and again recently, so their treatment needed adjusting.

A health problem crosses from being hidden to showing clear symptoms, sometimes in a sudden attack.

生病shēng bìng: Become unwell or fall ill.
发作fā zuò: Have an illness or symptom suddenly flare up.
得病dé bìng: Come down with an illness.

疾病的症状开始出现或原有病情突然加重。jí bìng de zhèng zhuàng kāi shǐ chū xiàn huò yuán yǒu bìng qíng tū rán jiā zhòng

发病 (fābìng, "to fall ill") joins 发 (fā, "emerge") with 病 (bìng, "illness"), presenting illness as something that comes out in symptoms.

In everyday speech, this word points to the moment symptoms appear or an illness flares up, so it is more specific than a general report of poor health.