etiology
etiology — 名詞
1. the particular reason or set of factors that makes an illness or health problem
病因；病原
疾病發生的原因或來源
the particular reason or set of factors that makes an illness or health problem start to affect a person's body
Luca asked the doctor whether stress could be the etiology of his frequent headaches.
Luca 問醫生壓力是否可能是他頻繁頭痛的病因。
collocation: the etiology of [condition]
The medical team could not find the etiology of Renata's sudden fever.
醫療團隊找不到 Renata 突然發燒的病因。
A viral etiology for the new lung disease was proposed by researchers in Kenya.
肯亞的研究人員提出這種新型肺病的病因可能是病毒感染。
Knowing the etiology of a disease helps hospitals plan better ways to prevent it.
了解疾病的病因有助醫院規劃更好的預防方式。
Tanvi's blood test gave the doctors the first clue to the etiology of her condition.
Tanvi 的血液檢查給了醫生追查她病情病因的第一條線索。
- cause
everyday word; less technical than 'etiology'
- origin
focuses on where the disease started; 'etiology' includes both origin and underlying mechanism
- root cause
more informal; emphasises the main underlying factor among several
文法句型
the etiology of + [disease or medical condition]
用法筆記
Frequently used with 'of' to specify which disease is being discussed. This sense is countable — you can refer to 'an etiology' (a specific cause) or 'the etiology of a particular illness.'
常見錯誤
2. the scientific field that investigates why and how diseases start, looking at th
病原學
研究疾病成因的科學分支
the scientific field that investigates why and how diseases start, looking at their causes and origins
Dr. Mira teaches etiology to first-year medical students at a college in Taipei.
Mira 博士在台北的醫學院教一年級學生病原學。
teach + etiology (academic context)
Karim chose to study etiology after his uncle died of a rare nerve disease.
Karim 在叔叔死於一種罕見神經疾病後選擇攻讀病原學。
study + etiology
A course in medical etiology explains how infections begin and spread inside the body.
醫學病原學課程會說明感染如何在體內開始和擴散。
New tools in gene research have pushed the field of cancer etiology forward.
基因研究的新工具推進了癌症病原學領域的發展。
Wei's study examined how the field of cancer etiology has changed over twenty years.
Wei 的研究探討了癌症病原學領域在二十年間的變化。
- aetiology
British spelling of the same word; meaning and usage are identical
文法句型
(field / study / branch) of etiology
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense — do not say 'an etiology' when you mean the field of study. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 picks out a single cause; sense 2 names the whole scientific discipline.