ủ bệnh
Definition
- Verb:
- To incubate (an illness): To be in the early, hidden, or asymptomatic stage of a disease, where the pathogen is developing inside the body before clear symptoms appear.
- To harbor (an illness): To carry a developing sickness without yet showing outward signs of being unwell.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Bệnh nhân đã ủ bệnh trong hai tuần trước khi sốt cao. (The patient incubated the illness for two weeks before developing a high fever.)
- Virus có thể ủ bệnh trong cơ thể mà không gây ra dấu hiệu nào. (The virus can harbor in the body without causing any signs.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is almost exclusively used in a medical or epidemiological context to describe the incubation period of an infectious disease.
- It can be used metaphorically in limited contexts to describe a hidden problem that is developing, though this is less common.
- Mâu thuẫn đã ủ bệnh trong nội bộ công ty từ lâu. (The conflict had been incubating within the company for a long time.)
Variants and Related Words
- Thời kỳ ủ bệnh (n): Incubation period.
- Thời kỳ ủ bệnh của bệnh cúm thường từ 1 đến 4 ngày. (The incubation period for influenza is usually 1 to 4 days.)
Synonyms
- Incubate: (of a disease or pathogen) to develop in an organism before symptoms arise.
- Harbor: To carry and shelter (a pathogen) within the body.
Related Idioms
- While not a true idiom, the phrase "ủ bệnh" itself functions as a set medical term. A related conceptual phrase is:
- Mang mầm bệnh: To carry the germ/seed of disease.
- Người lành mang trùng có thể ủ bệnh và lây cho người khác. (Asymptomatic carriers can harbor the illness and infect others.)