西医
xī yī · HSK 2
a doctor trained in Western medicine
💊 西医 = west + medicine; doctor trained in Western medicine
西 (xī) means west and 医 (yī) means medicine or doctor. Together they label the Western medical tradition, contrasted with 中医 (zhōngyī, Traditional Chinese Medicine).
西 — top 覀 (cover) + bottom 儿 (legs); originally a bird in nest
Originally a pictograph of a bird settling into its nest at dusk. Because birds return to roost when the sun sets in the west, the character was borrowed to mean 'west.' The original 'nest' meaning was later written with 棲/栖.