症状（しょうじょう、shoujoう）
- symptom

The Japanese word 症状 （しょうじょう） means "symptoms" or "condition" (usually referring to a medical condition). It describes the signs of an illness or disease that a person experiences. This can include physical sensations, observable changes, or other indications of a problem. The word focuses on the manifestation of a disease or illness. It can also refer to the state or condition of something, though its primary use is related to medical contexts.

⚫︎風邪の症状 Translation: Cold symptoms ⚫︎熱と咳の症状 Translation: Symptoms of fever and cough ⚫︎病気の症状］が出始める Translation: The symptoms of the illness begin to appear.

You use 症状 when talking about the signs and indications of a medical problem. It's used in conversations with doctors, when describing how you feel to someone, or when reading about medical conditions. It’s a common word, especially in discussions relating to health. The word is generally used in a formal to neutral context.

症状 is written using kanji and hiragana. ⚫︎ Kanji: 症状 ⚫︎ Reading (hiragana): しょうじょう There is no variation in okurigana.

⚫︎ 兆候 (choukou) - Sign, indication (of something, including illness) ⚫︎ 徴候 (choukou) - Sign, symptom ⚫︎ 病状 (byoujou) - Condition of an illness ⚫︎ 異変 (ihen) - Abnormality, change (can be related to physical state)

There aren't direct antonyms for 症状 because it describes a state. However, the absence of 症状 could imply a healthy or normal condition. ⚫︎ 健康 (kenkou) - Health ⚫︎ 回復 (kaifuku) - Recovery

インフルエンザの症状］は高熱、咳、そして筋肉痛です。 ・Translation: The symptoms of influenza are a high fever, cough, and muscle aches. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the typical signs associated with having the flu.

医者は患者の症状］を詳しく調べました。 ・Translation: The doctor examined the patient's symptoms in detail. ・Explanation: This sentence explains how the doctor would examine the patient's condition for the illness.

The word 症状 is a compound word. 症 (shou) means "symptom," "illness," or "disease," and 状 (jou) means "state," "condition," or "appearance". Therefore, the combination of these kanji directly means "the state or condition of an illness," making it an appropriate term for the symptoms a person experiences.