出院
chū yuàn · HSK 2
to be discharged from hospital
🏥🚪 出院 = exit (出) + hospital/courtyard (院)
出 means to go out or exit; 院 originally meant a walled courtyard and now commonly refers to institutions like hospitals (医院). Together: exit the hospital, i.e. get discharged.
出 — foot 止 emerging from enclosure 凵
出 is a pictograph showing a foot or plant stepping out of a hollow or enclosure, depicting the act of going forth. The original sense of 'coming out' or 'emerging' has remained stable since oracle bone script. It now broadly means 'to exit, go out, or produce.'
院 — left ear 阝(阜) + complete 完
院 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left 阝 (from 阜, mound/hill) suggests walls or enclosed terrain, hinting at an enclosed space. The right 完 (wán) provides the sound and originally meant 'complete', so 院 came to mean a walled courtyard or institution like a hospital or academy.