Medical Terms Glossary

A plain-English glossary of common medical terms and their Chinese equivalents, to help you communicate and read your records.

A quick reference of common medical terms and their Chinese equivalents. This helps you understand your records and communicate at the hospital.

Common conditions & symptoms

English中文 (Chinese)
Pain疼痛 (téng tòng)
Fever发烧 (fā shāo)
Headache头痛 (tóu tòng)
Cough咳嗽 (ké sou)
Nausea恶心 (ě xīn)
Dizziness头晕 (tóu yūn)
Fatigue疲劳 (pí láo)
Allergy过敏 (guò mǐn)

Body parts

English中文 (Chinese)
Heart心脏 (xīn zàng)
Brain大脑 (dà nǎo)
Lung肺 (fèi)
Liver肝脏 (gān zàng)
Kidney肾脏 (shèn zàng)
Stomach胃 (wèi)
Joint关节 (guān jié)
Bone骨头 (gǔ tóu)

Treatment & procedures

English中文 (Chinese)
Surgery手术 (shǒu shù)
Operation手术 (shǒu shù)
Medication药物 (yào wù)
Prescription处方 (chǔ fāng)
Injection注射 (zhù shè)
Injection / IV输液 (shū yè)
X-rayX光 (X guāng)
CT scanCT扫描 (CT sǎo miáo)
MRI核磁共振 (hé gǔ zèn gǔ míng)
Ultrasound超声 (chāo shēng)
Blood test验血 (yàn xuè)
Biopsy活检 (huó jiǎn)
Chemotherapy化疗 (huà liáo)
Radiation放疗 (fàng liáo)
Implant植入物 (zhí rù wù)
Transplant移植 (yí zhí)

Hospital & care

English中文 (Chinese)
Hospital医院 (yī yuàn)
Doctor医生 (yī shēng)
Nurse护士 (hù shi)
Emergency急诊 (jí zhěn)
Outpatient门诊 (mén zhěn)
Inpatient住院 (zhù yuàn)
Discharge出院 (chū yuàn)
Ward / room病房 (bìng fáng)
Appointment预约 (yù yuē)
Registration挂号 (guà hào)
Bill / invoice账单 (zhàng dān)
Insurance保险 (bǎo xiǎn)
Interpreter翻译 (fān yì)

Useful phrases

English中文 (Chinese)
I need help我需要帮助 (wǒ xū yào bāng zhù)
Where is the emergency room?急诊在哪里? (jí zhěn zài nǎ lǐ?)
I’m allergic to penicillin我对青霉素过敏 (wǒ duì qīng méi sù guò mǐn)
How much is it?多少钱? (duō shao qián?)
Please call my doctor请打给我医生 (qǐng dǎ gěi wǒ yī shēng)

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