Chinese word

癫痫

Pronunciation

Pinyindiān xián

Meaning

  • nounepilepsy

Example

医生说她没有癫痫。yī shēng shuō tā méi yǒu diān xián

The doctor said she didn't have epilepsy.

Illustration for 癫痫 (epilepsy)

More examples

她需要服药来控制癫痫。tā xū yào fú yào lái kòng zhì diān xián

She needs to take medicine to control her epilepsy.

Core concept

A brain condition in which abnormal electrical activity repeatedly disrupts movement or awareness.

Common phrases

  • 患有癫痫huàn yǒu diān xián

    have epilepsy

  • 控制癫痫kòng zhì diān xián

    control epilepsy

  • 癫痫发作时diān xián fā zuò shí

    during an epileptic seizure

Similar words

发作fā zuò: A short period when symptoms suddenly occur.
抽搐chōu chù: Brief, uncontrolled jerking movements of the muscles.
晕厥yūn jué: Temporary loss of consciousness followed by a fall.

Definition in Chinese

由脑部异常电活动引起的慢性疾病，特征为反复出现的发作性痉挛或意识障碍。yóu nǎo bù yì cháng diàn huó dòng yín qǐ de màn xìng jí bìng tè zhēng wèi fǎn fù chū xiàn de fā zuò xìng jìng luán huò yì shí zhàng ài

Word origin

癫 (diān, "mental disturbance") + 痫 (xián, "convulsive illness") combines two traditional illness terms for a disorder involving seizures.

Usage tips

  • The second syllable is xián with a rising tone, not xiàn with a falling tone, and keeping the two tones clear makes this health term easier to recognize in speech.

Related words

  • 癫痫患者diān xián huàn zhěperson with epilepsynoun

Word lists with this word