阳性

• Pinyin: yáng xìng
• Hanzi breakdown: 阳 = 阝(earthwork/mound) + 昜 (rising sun — the bright, sunny side of a hill); 性 = 忄(heart/mind) + 生 (life — the innate disposition of a living being)

Meaning

Positive (in a test result); yang polarity; masculine gender (in grammar). In medicine, indicates a test has detected the target substance or condition.

In medical contexts, 阳性 means a positive test result (e.g., 核酸检测阳性 — nucleic acid test positive). In traditional Chinese philosophy, 阳 is the active, bright, masculine principle of yin-yang dualism. In linguistics, refers to the masculine gender in languages that have grammatical gender. The opposite is 阴性 (negative result / yin / feminine).

Examples

1. 疫情期间，核酸检测阳性的患者须立即转入隔离病房，并接受专业医疗团队的跟踪监测和对症治疗，以防止病毒进一步扩散。 During the pandemic, patients who tested positive on nucleic acid tests had to be transferred immediately to isolation wards and receive professional monitoring and symptomatic treatment to prevent further spread of the virus.
2. 传统中医理论认为，人体的阴阳平衡至关重要，阳性体质的人往往表现为体温偏高、面色红润、精力充沛，但也容易出现上火的症状。 Traditional Chinese medicine theory holds that balancing yin and yang is crucial. People with a “yang” constitution often have higher body temperature, a rosy complexion, and abundant energy, but they’re also prone to “heatiness” symptoms.
3. 在学习法语或西班牙语时，中国学生往往对名词的阴阳性分类感到困惑，因为汉语本身并没有语法性别这一概念。 When studying French or Spanish, Chinese students often find the masculine/feminine classification of nouns confusing, because Chinese itself doesn’t have grammatical gender.

Usage Guide

Context: medicine, science, philosophy, linguistics

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 患者的乙肝表面抗原检测结果显示为阳性，提示体内存在乙型肝炎病毒的活动性感染，需要进一步完善肝功能及病毒载量等相关检查。(The patient's hepatitis B surface antigen test result is positive, indicating an active hepatitis B virus infection in the body; further examination of liver function and viral load is required.)
• 中医所说的阳性体质并不是一种疾病诊断，而是对个体先天禀赋和后天调养所形成的生理特征的一种整体描述和分类参考。(What traditional Chinese medicine calls a yang constitution is not a disease diagnosis but rather a holistic description and classificatory reference for the physiological characteristics formed by an individual's innate endowment and acquired lifestyle habits.)

Don't Say

• 他的心态很阳性 — 阳性 is a technical term in medicine, philosophy, and linguistics; for a positive, optimistic disposition say 他的心态很积极 or 他心态阳光

Origin & History

阳 (yang/sun/positive — 阝 mound/earthwork + 昜 rising sun spreading light — the sunny side of a hill) + 性 (nature/quality/gender — 心 heart + 生 life — the innate quality of a living being)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal