慢性
mànxìng · HSK 7
chronic
🐢 慢 slow + 性 nature = slow-natured, i.e. chronic (takes effect slowly)
慢 means slow and 性 means nature or quality, so 慢性 is a slow-acting trait. In medicine it labels a chronic condition, the opposite of 急性 (acute, fast-acting).
慢 — heart radical 忄 + 曼 màn (phonetic)
慢 is a phonetic-semantic compound. The heart radical 忄 signals a feeling or mental state, while 曼 supplies the sound màn. Originally it meant 'lazy' or 'negligent,' a slack state of mind, and later shifted to its modern sense of 'slow.'
性 — heart radical 忄 + 生 (life/birth)
性 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 supplies the meaning, pointing to inner feelings or innate qualities, while 生 ('birth, life') gives the sound and hints at what one is born with. It originally meant 'inborn nature' and later extended to 'character,' 'gender,' and 'sex.'