<p>According to 《汉语大词典》, <a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/178466p.html">感冒</a> means:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>犹感受。</li>
  <li>一种传染病。多因气候变化，人体抵抗力减弱时为病毒感染所致。</li>
  <li>清代官员请假的托辞。</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>The entries 2 and 3 seem to be somewhat related.
Two entries imply two different stories.
水巷孑蠻 talks about the 2nd one.
songyuanyao talks about the 3rd one.</p>

<p>The question talks about disease, so I focus on this.</p>

<p>From 《汉语大词典》, <a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/54789t.html">the 18th meaning of 冒</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="18">
  <li>中医病症名。病者神智不清。<br>
  ●《素问•玉机真藏论》：「﹝春脉﹞太过则令人善怒，忽忽眩冒而巅疾。」<br>
  ●《医宗金鉴•张仲景〈伤寒论·太阳病下〉》：「其人因致冒，冒家汗出自愈。」集注引程知曰：「冒者，神识不清，如有物为之冒蒙也。」</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>《汉语大词典》列出來源而未解釋，不易了解。<br>
《汉语大词典》 lists the sources without explanation, so it's not easy to understand.</p>

<p>東漢 張仲景（公元 150－219 年）《傷寒論》的<a href="http://ctext.org/shang-han-lun/bian-tai-yang-bing-mai-zheng1/zh">原文</a>如下：<br>
The original content in 《傷寒論》 is as follows.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>以此表裏俱虛，其人因致冒，冒家汗出自愈。</p>
</blockquote>

<h2>先看「冒」的意思。(The meaning of 冒.)</h2>

<p>【一】《汉语大词典》引用 程知《傷寒經注》：<br>
《汉语大词典》quotes from 程知《傷寒經注》：</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>冒者，神识不清，如有物为之冒蒙也。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>冒 means coma, like being covered by something.</p>

<p>此句有「冒蒙」一詞。
「冒」與「<a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/zidian/_8499.html">蒙</a>」是同義字，都是「覆蓋」的意思。
程知 用「覆蓋」來形容病人的「昏迷」。
這表示「覆蓋」是「冒」的原義，而「昏迷」是其引申義。<br>
There is a phrase 冒蒙 in the above sentence.
冒 and 蒙 are synonyms, which means "to cover".
程知 used "cover" to describe a patient's "coma".
It means that "cover" is the original meaning of 冒, and "coma" is its extended meaning.</p>

<p>【二】此外，王丙《傷寒論注》的<a href="http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&amp;chapter=407661">解釋原文</a>(第143條)如下：<br>
In addition, 王丙《傷寒論注》explained it as follows.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>以此表裏俱虛，因虛其人致冒，理必然也。冒家者，謂凡因病而昏冒者也。然冒家或有汗出自愈，其所以然者，非表裏俱虛，乃邪正皆衰，表裏自和故也。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>此注有「昏冒」一詞。
再查《汉语大词典》的<a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/222376l.html">昏冒</a>。<br>
This remark has the term, 昏冒.
《汉语大词典》explains it as follows.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>昏冒<br>
  <strong>昏迷不醒</strong>。<br>
  《医宗金鉴•杂病心法要诀·三化汤》：「三化气实风中府，昏冒闭满小承羌。」注：「昏冒，谓<strong>神昏不知人</strong>也。」<br>
  《医宗金鉴•运气要诀·运气为病歌》「诸痛痒疮属心火」注：「心藏神，热乘于心，则神不明，故<strong>昏冒不省人事</strong>也。」</p>
</blockquote>

<p>昏迷不醒 means "unconsciousness" or "to lose consciousness".</p>

<p>所以，到這裡，冒 ＝ 昏冒 ＝ 昏迷不醒。這是較嚴重的狀況。<br>
So, up to here, 冒 ＝ 昏冒 ＝ unconsciousness. This is a more serious situation.</p>

<p>【三】我們來看 <a href="http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&amp;chapter=100807">金代名醫 成無己 的解釋</a>。<br>
Let's take a look the explanation of a famous doctor 成無己 in the 金 dynasty.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>冒者鬰也。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>查《汉语大词典》對<a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/557065s.html">鬰冒的解釋</a>：<br>
《汉语大词典》explains 鬰冒 as follows.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>中医指头晕目眩或昏迷的症状。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>TCM refers to the symptom of dizziness or coma.</p>

<p>由此可知，「冒」也包括輕微的狀況，如：頭暈目眩。<br>
According to this, 冒 also includes mild situations, such as dizziness.</p>

<p>【四】小結論</p>

<p>從以上的解釋，我們可以知道「冒」的原義是「覆蓋」，而其引申義是從輕微的頭暈到嚴重的昏迷。<br>
From the explanations above, we can see that the original meaning of 冒 is "cover", and whose extended meanings range from the mild dizziness to the serious coma.</p>

<h2>再看「致冒」的意思。(The meaning of 致冒.)</h2>

<p>「致」是導致、引起、致使的意思，這應該沒有問題。
「冒」可以是「冒疾」或「冒癥」。
所以，「致冒」可以是「導致冒疾」或「引起冒癥」。<br>
致 means "to lead, to arouse, to cause". There is no problem here, I think.
冒 may be a disease or symptoms.
Therefore, 致冒 may mean "to lead 冒, the disease" or "to arouse 冒, the symptoms".</p>

<p>《汉语大词典》說「冒」是「中医病症名」。<br>
《汉语大词典》 states that 冒 is a name of 病症 in TCM。</p>

<p>問題就出在這「症」字。
若用正體字，「症」和「癥」分得很清楚，前者是「疾病」，後者是「病狀」。
但簡化後，變成同一字，就容易混淆了。<br>
The problem lies in the word, 症.
If using the traditional characters, 症 and 癥 are clearly different.
症 means a disease, and 癥 the symptom.
However, they become the same word in simplified Chinese.
It is easy to confuse.</p>

<p>我猜，在大陸，「病症」大多是指「疾病」。
所以，「冒」會被解釋為「病名」。<br>
I guess, in Mainland, 病症 mostly means disease.
Therefore, 冒 is interpreted as the name of a disease.</p>

<p>但是，解釋為「病癥」可能會更合適。
也就是說，「感冒」是「感得冒癥的病」。
而這「冒癥」包括從輕微的頭暈到嚴重的昏迷。
換句話說，「感冒」是借用「冒」的癥狀而得的病名。
感冒的時候，頭會有一種暈悶沈重的感覺。
這種現象就是輕微的「冒」。<br>
But it may be more appropriate to interpret it as the name of symptoms here.
That is, 感冒 means to get the disease which has 冒, the symptoms.
The symptoms range from mild dizziness to serious coma.
In other words, 感冒 is the name of a disease that borrows 冒.
When we catch a cold, the head will have a dizzy and heavy feeling.
This phenomenon is exactly a slight 冒。</p>

<p>從字面上來看，「致冒」類似「感冒」，差在主動和被動。例如：<br>
Literally, 致冒 is similar to 感冒, and the difference is in active or passive. For example,</p>

<p>（致冒）天冷導致冒疾/冒癥。<br>
The cold weather leads to 冒疾/冒癥.</p>

<p>（感冒）某人因天冷感得冒疾/冒癥。<br>
Someone gets 冒疾/冒癥 because of the cold weather.</p>

<p>當然，這裡的「冒」不單指「昏迷」。<br>
Of course, 冒 here doesn't just mean coma.</p>

<p>另一個差別是：「感冒」現在已是一專有詞彙，而「致冒」不是。<br>
Another difference is that 感冒 is a proper term now. 致冒 is not.</p>

<h2>結論(Conclusion)</h2>

<p>「感冒」是借用「冒」的癥狀而得的病名。
「冒」包括從輕微的頭暈到嚴重的昏迷。<br>
感冒 is the name of a disease that borrows 冒, the symptoms.
The symptoms range from slight dizziness to serious coma.</p>

<p>So, the question: <strong>What is the meaning of 冒 in 感冒？</strong><br>
原問：「感冒」中的「冒」是什麼意思？</p>

<p>我認為：雖然「冒」的原義是「覆蓋」，但在這裡是指「<strong>感冒的一些癥狀</strong>」，這可以是頭暈甚或昏迷。<br>
My answer is <strong>some symptoms of cold</strong>, which may be dizziness or even coma, although its original meaning is "to cover" or "covering".</p>

<hr>

<p>P.S. 題外話：</p>

<p>「冒」有很多意思。
在 張仲景《傷寒論》中的「冒」也不只一個意思。譬如：</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>其人叉手自冒心，心下悸，欲得按者。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>病人心悸，覺得心跳得很快，直覺地用手蓋住左胸，也希望能有幫忙按壓的人。</p>

<p>這裡的「冒」是動詞，只有其原義「覆蓋」的意思，不能用上述的引申義來解釋。</p>

<p>冒 has many meanings.
The 冒 in 《傷寒論》 also has more than one meaning. For example,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>其人叉手自冒心，心下悸，欲得按者。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The patient gets palpitations, fells the heart beating quickly, instinctively covers the left chest with hands, and expects a person who can help press.</p>

<p>冒, a verb here, means "to cover", only the original meaning, and cannot be explained by the above-mentioned extended meaning.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-23T00:59:10.337Z
Thank you too, very much. It will take me a while to read and understand these answers.
Gangosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-21T13:30:40.610Z
2017-01-25T08:16:03.603Z
2017-01-25T08:16:03.603Z
hinen
<p>"感冒" as a term of sickness has a long history, since 宋 dynasty (960-1279): several literatures had this term:</p>

<p>醫說 by 張杲:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3mWsP.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3mWsP.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>勉齋集 by 黃幹
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ok7a3.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ok7a3.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>清正存稿 by 徐鹿卿
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hpwwu.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hpwwu.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>then, in 世醫得效方 by 危亦林 of 元 dynasty (1271 - 1368), 
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UHhp2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UHhp2.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>which mentioned "<strong>感冒</strong>風寒﹒鼻塞﹒語音不出﹒頭痛﹒拘倦"</p>

<p>in which, the symptom is similar to today usage (common cold, or influenza)</p>

<p>next, in 胡端敏奏議 by 胡世寧 of 明 dynasty (1368-1644)
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/nHqbL.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/nHqbL.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>which mentioned "<strong>感冒</strong>﹒其病即發﹒有身熱惡寒﹒有不身熱而止畏風寒", "又有<strong>感冒</strong>後鼻塞﹒咳嗽﹒或身微熱﹒或身不熱﹒皆名<strong>傷風</strong>"</p>

<p>again, the symptom is similar to today usage, and, it also mentioned "傷風"; that, a term commonly used together with "感冒" nowadays.</p>

<p>imo, <h2>the info provided by the article "感冒一詞的由來" is, incorrect.</h2> </p>

<p>edited, with additional info.</p>

<p>i read all 300+ findings of "感冒" in literatures of yore, here's my suggestion.</p>

<p>"感冒" is a generic term of sickness since 宋 dynasty (960-1279), i don't find clear definition of it in this period. the earliest one, with symptom in details was in 世醫得效方 by 危亦林 of 元 dynasty (1271 - 1368).</p>

<p>one of the interested finding is in 胡端敏奏議 by 胡世寧 of 明 dynasty (1368-1644)
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Z0i7J.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Z0i7J.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>"或因當風坐卧﹒或因輕煖脱衣﹒一時冒寒﹒又或當夏冒暑﹒皆為感冒"</p>

<p>in which the causes of "感冒" was stated as "冒寒" &amp; "冒暑". nowadays we still use "冒" + elements, e.g.:</p>

<p>冒雪抗議: ~ demontrated while snowing</p>

<p>冒雨遊行: ~ procession in rain</p>

<p>considering "感冒" is a thousand years old literary chinese term, using modern dictionary to explain each character has its limitation. so, with my limited knowledge, i would suggest:</p>

<p>感 as "感染" (infest) in the term "感冒"</p>

<p>冒 as "unprotected, exposed in" in the term "感冒"</p>

<p>last, about the 18th meaning of "冒" provided by 漢語大詞典, i'm seriously in doubt.</p>

<p>according to "黃帝內經素問補註釋文" by 王氷, of 唐 dynasty (618 - 907):
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/LHpGO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/LHpGO.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>the text "忽忽眩冒而巔疾" had the remark "忽忽﹒不爽也﹒眩謂目昡﹒視如轉也﹒冒謂冒悶也"</p>

<p>i don't think that 冒悶 means "神智不清"; i would interpret "冒悶" as "emitting low spirits", an analog of "冒汗".</p>

<p>next, about 傷寒論, thought it was written by 張仲景 (150 - 219); the remark of "冒者﹒神識不清﹒如有物為之冒蒙也" was made by 程知, of 清 dynasty (1644 - 1911).</p>

<p>claiming, or implying that 張仲景 wrote such remark, is improper. further, there're <a href="http://ctext.org/shang-han-lun/zh?searchu=%E5%86%92" rel="nofollow noreferrer">14 entries of "冒"</a> in 傷寒論; "神識不清" does not fit them well.</p>

<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-21T12:48:26.793Z
in the first paragraph of the article, "可是任何一部古代中医典籍中都没有“感冒”一词，原来，“感冒”这个常用语不是医学术语，而是来自官场，是一个官场专用语。" is incorrect. indeed, the earliest one i can find, that mentioned "感冒" is 醫說, which was a chinese medicine "book" of 宋 dynasty. "感冒" is a medical term since that time, it's not a "官場專用語".
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-22T08:19:28.827Z
i'm finding. there're 300+ appearances of 感冒 in literatures of yore, i guess it takes sometime, with, or without any results :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-23T00:54:53.637Z
Thank you in extremis for such a detailed answer! I am a very very grateful for your hard work! It will take me a week to read it and understand it, if not longer!
Gangosa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-23T09:55:06.253Z
wish you a pleasant reading, without "literary chinese overload" :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-21T09:34:10.503Z
2017-01-22T17:55:30.027Z
2017-01-22T17:55:30.027Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>感冒 is the abbreviation of traditional medical term 「感风冒」. This means that once your body occasionally received some  「风」（pathogens）and it finally turns out and shows symptoms. Here 「冒」stands for 「(Sth.) to turn out, to express, to manifest」.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-21T16:03:57.033Z
2017-01-21T16:03:57.033Z
KasumiSong
<p>I am not an expert in chinese grammar. But I am indeed a Chinese.
In Chinese Language we are not so clear about some verb, noun. @songyuanyao's answer should answer your question. </p>

<p>Except the meaning of 'catch a cold', 感冒 will use in a condition like "I'm not a fan of Lady Gaga's new song.(我对Lady Gaga的新歌不感冒, this just a translation made by I(or me don't know this gramar :P), I'm not expert of both Chinese and English.)". So if you are learning Chinese, maybe it's not a very good idea to understand every meaning of a Chinese character in a specific word(phrase), but it maybe helpful if you know the meaning of 冒 as a verb. And the site zdic.net is useful when you wish to understand the source of a word or Character, because it quotes lots of old Chinese sentence, but not so many modern Chinese.
For learning modern Chinese a dictionary called 《新华词典》is used by most Chinese students, but I don't know if it has a Chinese-English version.</p>

<p>So all I want to say is do not let one Character in a word borther you if you already know the meaning of the word(if you just want to understand chinese not being a translater or an expert), knowing common meaning of a character is enough for most situation. I'm saying this because I'm a Chinese and I did't know the meaning of 冒 in 感冒 until I saw this question and search the answer for it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-21T06:36:19.940Z
2017-01-21T06:36:19.940Z
CY Liu
<p>That's a quite good question, for me, a Chinese has never thought about what's the meaning of 冒 in 感冒 and also has the same question as you: Why 冒 has all of these meanings that you have listed in the questions but none of them relate to &quot;catch a fever&quot;? The thing that I can tell you is that nowadays if we say 冒 independently, nobody will consider the meaning &quot;catch a fever&quot; although it might come from some ancient sentences. And if we want to say &quot;catch a fever&quot;, we say 感 and 冒 together, 感冒, no need to research why we say &quot;catch a 冒&quot; :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-07T11:15:46.827Z
2023-08-07T11:15:46.827Z
Hao
<p>Many chinese terms needed to be understood as a whole and not as the sum of their individual characters.</p>
<p>Take for example the term 大人. It can mean &quot;adult,&quot; but can also mean &quot;senior,&quot; when used in the context of old China's mandarin burreaucracy. Neither of the component characters is remotely related to this.</p>
<p>感冒 as a whole means &quot;getting the flu.&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-08T05:33:15.230Z
2023-08-08T05:33:15.230Z
fat penguin
<p>I like to know how a word 'works' in a phrase. What did people think when they came up with the phrase 感冒？ A hat/cover on your feelings?? Maybe this 感 means something else?</p>

<p>感 means feel, perceive, emotion</p>

<p>冒 has these meanings, according to zdic.net:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>向外透或往上升：～烟（❶烟往上升；❷发怒）。～汗。～尖。 emit</p>

<p>　2. 不顾（恶劣的环境或危险等），顶着：～雨。～险。～死。 rash, foolishly brave</p>

<p>　3. 不加小心，鲁莽，冲撞：～失。～昧。～进（不顾具体条件，急躁进行）。 impulsive, reckless</p>

<p>　4. 用假的充当真的，假托：～牌。～充。～名顶替。 fake, substitute</p>

<p>　5. 复盖：“先设一铁板，其上以松脂、蜡和纸灰之类～之”。 cover, hide, </p>

<p>　6. 贪污：“贪于饮食，～于货贿”。 corrupt, corruption</p>

<p>　7. 古同“帽”。 hat</p>

<p>　8. 古同“瑁”，玳瑁。 tortoiseshell</p>

<p>　9. 姓。 surname</p></li>
</ol>

<p>如果我感冒的话， I feel ??? Which of 1 - 9 somehow achieves the meaning of 'catch a cold', with its concomitant symptoms?</p>

<meaning>
What is the meaning of 冒 in 感冒？
# What is the meaning of 冒 in 感冒？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-21)

I like to know how a word 'works' in a phrase. What did people think when they came up with the phrase 感冒？ A hat/cover on your feelings?? Maybe this 感 means something else?

感 means feel, perceive, emotion

冒 has these meanings, according to zdic.net:

1. 向外透或往上升：～烟（❶烟往上升；❷发怒）。～汗。～尖。 emit

   　2. 不顾（恶劣的环境或危险等），顶着：～雨。～险。～死。 rash, foolishly brave

   　3. 不加小心，鲁莽，冲撞：～失。～昧。～进（不顾具体条件，急躁进行）。 impulsive, reckless

   　4. 用假的充当真的，假托：～牌。～充。～名顶替。 fake, substitute

   　5. 复盖：“先设一铁板，其上以松脂、蜡和纸灰之类～之”。 cover, hide,

   　6. 贪污：“贪于饮食，～于货贿”。 corrupt, corruption

   　7. 古同“帽”。 hat

   　8. 古同“瑁”，玳瑁。 tortoiseshell

   　9. 姓。 surname

如果我感冒的话， I feel ??? Which of 1 - 9 somehow achieves the meaning of 'catch a cold', with its concomitant symptoms?

**Tags:** meaning

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## 6 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-01-21. Score: 15

According to 《汉语大词典》, [感冒](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/178466p.html) means:

> 1. 犹感受。
> 2. 一种传染病。多因气候变化，人体抵抗力减弱时为病毒感染所致。
> 3. 清代官员请假的托辞。

The entries 2 and 3 seem to be somewhat related.
Two entries imply two different stories.
水巷孑蠻 talks about the 2nd one.
songyuanyao talks about the 3rd one.

The question talks about disease, so I focus on this.

From 《汉语大词典》, [the 18th meaning of 冒](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/54789t.html):

> 18. 中医病症名。病者神智不清。  
>     ●《素问•玉机真藏论》：「﹝春脉﹞太过则令人善怒，忽忽眩冒而巅疾。」  
>     ●《医宗金鉴•张仲景〈伤寒论·太阳病下〉》：「其人因致冒，冒家汗出自愈。」集注引程知曰：「冒者，神识不清，如有物为之冒蒙也。」

《汉语大词典》列出來源而未解釋，不易了解。  
《汉语大词典》 lists the sources without explanation, so it's not easy to understand.

東漢 張仲景（公元 150－219 年）《傷寒論》的[原文](http://ctext.org/shang-han-lun/bian-tai-yang-bing-mai-zheng1/zh)如下：  
The original content in 《傷寒論》 is as follows.

> 以此表裏俱虛，其人因致冒，冒家汗出自愈。

## 先看「冒」的意思。(The meaning of 冒.)

【一】《汉语大词典》引用 程知《傷寒經注》：  
《汉语大词典》quotes from 程知《傷寒經注》：

> 冒者，神识不清，如有物为之冒蒙也。

冒 means coma, like being covered by something.

此句有「冒蒙」一詞。
「冒」與「[蒙](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/zidian/_8499.html)」是同義字，都是「覆蓋」的意思。
程知 用「覆蓋」來形容病人的「昏迷」。
這表示「覆蓋」是「冒」的原義，而「昏迷」是其引申義。  
There is a phrase 冒蒙 in the above sentence.
冒 and 蒙 are synonyms, which means "to cover".
程知 used "cover" to describe a patient's "coma".
It means that "cover" is the original meaning of 冒, and "coma" is its extended meaning.

【二】此外，王丙《傷寒論注》的[解釋原文](http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=407661)(第143條)如下：  
In addition, 王丙《傷寒論注》explained it as follows.

> 以此表裏俱虛，因虛其人致冒，理必然也。冒家者，謂凡因病而昏冒者也。然冒家或有汗出自愈，其所以然者，非表裏俱虛，乃邪正皆衰，表裏自和故也。

此注有「昏冒」一詞。
再查《汉语大词典》的[昏冒](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/222376l.html)。  
This remark has the term, 昏冒.
《汉语大词典》explains it as follows.

> 昏冒  
> **昏迷不醒**。  
> 《医宗金鉴•杂病心法要诀·三化汤》：「三化气实风中府，昏冒闭满小承羌。」注：「昏冒，谓**神昏不知人**也。」  
> 《医宗金鉴•运气要诀·运气为病歌》「诸痛痒疮属心火」注：「心藏神，热乘于心，则神不明，故**昏冒不省人事**也。」

昏迷不醒 means "unconsciousness" or "to lose consciousness".

所以，到這裡，冒 ＝ 昏冒 ＝ 昏迷不醒。這是較嚴重的狀況。  
So, up to here, 冒 ＝ 昏冒 ＝ unconsciousness. This is a more serious situation.

【三】我們來看 [金代名醫 成無己 的解釋](http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=100807)。  
Let's take a look the explanation of a famous doctor 成無己 in the 金 dynasty.

> 冒者鬰也。

查《汉语大词典》對[鬰冒的解釋](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/hydcd/557065s.html)：  
《汉语大词典》explains 鬰冒 as follows.

> 中医指头晕目眩或昏迷的症状。

TCM refers to the symptom of dizziness or coma.

由此可知，「冒」也包括輕微的狀況，如：頭暈目眩。  
According to this, 冒 also includes mild situations, such as dizziness.

【四】小結論

從以上的解釋，我們可以知道「冒」的原義是「覆蓋」，而其引申義是從輕微的頭暈到嚴重的昏迷。  
From the explanations above, we can see that the original meaning of 冒 is "cover", and whose extended meanings range from the mild dizziness to the serious coma.

## 再看「致冒」的意思。(The meaning of 致冒.)

「致」是導致、引起、致使的意思，這應該沒有問題。
「冒」可以是「冒疾」或「冒癥」。
所以，「致冒」可以是「導致冒疾」或「引起冒癥」。  
致 means "to lead, to arouse, to cause". There is no problem here, I think.
冒 may be a disease or symptoms.
Therefore, 致冒 may mean "to lead 冒, the disease" or "to arouse 冒, the symptoms".

《汉语大词典》說「冒」是「中医病症名」。  
《汉语大词典》 states that 冒 is a name of 病症 in TCM。

問題就出在這「症」字。
若用正體字，「症」和「癥」分得很清楚，前者是「疾病」，後者是「病狀」。
但簡化後，變成同一字，就容易混淆了。  
The problem lies in the word, 症.
If using the traditional characters, 症 and 癥 are clearly different.
症 means a disease, and 癥 the symptom.
However, they become the same word in simplified Chinese.
It is easy to confuse.

我猜，在大陸，「病症」大多是指「疾病」。
所以，「冒」會被解釋為「病名」。  
I guess, in Mainland, 病症 mostly means disease.
Therefore, 冒 is interpreted as the name of a disease.

但是，解釋為「病癥」可能會更合適。
也就是說，「感冒」是「感得冒癥的病」。
而這「冒癥」包括從輕微的頭暈到嚴重的昏迷。
換句話說，「感冒」是借用「冒」的癥狀而得的病名。
感冒的時候，頭會有一種暈悶沈重的感覺。
這種現象就是輕微的「冒」。  
But it may be more appropriate to interpret it as the name of symptoms here.
That is, 感冒 means to get the disease which has 冒, the symptoms.
The symptoms range from mild dizziness to serious coma.
In other words, 感冒 is the name of a disease that borrows 冒.
When we catch a cold, the head will have a dizzy and heavy feeling.
This phenomenon is exactly a slight 冒。

從字面上來看，「致冒」類似「感冒」，差在主動和被動。例如：  
Literally, 致冒 is similar to 感冒, and the difference is in active or passive. For example,

（致冒）天冷導致冒疾/冒癥。  
The cold weather leads to 冒疾/冒癥.

（感冒）某人因天冷感得冒疾/冒癥。  
Someone gets 冒疾/冒癥 because of the cold weather.

當然，這裡的「冒」不單指「昏迷」。  
Of course, 冒 here doesn't just mean coma.

另一個差別是：「感冒」現在已是一專有詞彙，而「致冒」不是。  
Another difference is that 感冒 is a proper term now. 致冒 is not.

## 結論(Conclusion)

「感冒」是借用「冒」的癥狀而得的病名。
「冒」包括從輕微的頭暈到嚴重的昏迷。  
感冒 is the name of a disease that borrows 冒, the symptoms.
The symptoms range from slight dizziness to serious coma.

So, the question: **What is the meaning of 冒 in 感冒？**  
原問：「感冒」中的「冒」是什麼意思？

我認為：雖然「冒」的原義是「覆蓋」，但在這裡是指「**感冒的一些癥狀**」，這可以是頭暈甚或昏迷。  
My answer is **some symptoms of cold**, which may be dizziness or even coma, although its original meaning is "to cover" or "covering".

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P.S. 題外話：

「冒」有很多意思。
在 張仲景《傷寒論》中的「冒」也不只一個意思。譬如：

> 其人叉手自冒心，心下悸，欲得按者。

病人心悸，覺得心跳得很快，直覺地用手蓋住左胸，也希望能有幫忙按壓的人。

這裡的「冒」是動詞，只有其原義「覆蓋」的意思，不能用上述的引申義來解釋。

冒 has many meanings.
The 冒 in 《傷寒論》 also has more than one meaning. For example,

> 其人叉手自冒心，心下悸，欲得按者。

The patient gets palpitations, fells the heart beating quickly, instinctively covers the left chest with hands, and expects a person who can help press.

冒, a verb here, means "to cover", only the original meaning, and cannot be explained by the above-mentioned extended meaning.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you too, very much. It will take me a while to read and understand these answers.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2017-01-21. Score: 3

"感冒" as a term of sickness has a long history, since 宋 dynasty (960-1279): several literatures had this term:

醫說 by 張杲:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3mWsP.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/3mWsP.png)

勉齋集 by 黃幹
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ok7a3.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ok7a3.png)

清正存稿 by 徐鹿卿
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/hpwwu.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/hpwwu.png)

then, in 世醫得效方 by 危亦林 of 元 dynasty (1271 - 1368),
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/UHhp2.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/UHhp2.png)

which mentioned "**感冒**風寒﹒鼻塞﹒語音不出﹒頭痛﹒拘倦"

in which, the symptom is similar to today usage (common cold, or influenza)

next, in 胡端敏奏議 by 胡世寧 of 明 dynasty (1368-1644)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/nHqbL.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/nHqbL.png)

which mentioned "**感冒**﹒其病即發﹒有身熱惡寒﹒有不身熱而止畏風寒", "又有**感冒**後鼻塞﹒咳嗽﹒或身微熱﹒或身不熱﹒皆名**傷風**"

again, the symptom is similar to today usage, and, it also mentioned "傷風"; that, a term commonly used together with "感冒" nowadays.

imo,

## the info provided by the article "感冒一詞的由來" is, incorrect.

edited, with additional info.

i read all 300+ findings of "感冒" in literatures of yore, here's my suggestion.

"感冒" is a generic term of sickness since 宋 dynasty (960-1279), i don't find clear definition of it in this period. the earliest one, with symptom in details was in 世醫得效方 by 危亦林 of 元 dynasty (1271 - 1368).

one of the interested finding is in 胡端敏奏議 by 胡世寧 of 明 dynasty (1368-1644)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Z0i7J.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Z0i7J.png)

"或因當風坐卧﹒或因輕煖脱衣﹒一時冒寒﹒又或當夏冒暑﹒皆為感冒"

in which the causes of "感冒" was stated as "冒寒" & "冒暑". nowadays we still use "冒" + elements, e.g.:

冒雪抗議: ~ demontrated while snowing

冒雨遊行: ~ procession in rain

considering "感冒" is a thousand years old literary chinese term, using modern dictionary to explain each character has its limitation. so, with my limited knowledge, i would suggest:

感 as "感染" (infest) in the term "感冒"

冒 as "unprotected, exposed in" in the term "感冒"

last, about the 18th meaning of "冒" provided by 漢語大詞典, i'm seriously in doubt.

according to "黃帝內經素問補註釋文" by 王氷, of 唐 dynasty (618 - 907):
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/LHpGO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/LHpGO.png)

the text "忽忽眩冒而巔疾" had the remark "忽忽﹒不爽也﹒眩謂目昡﹒視如轉也﹒冒謂冒悶也"

i don't think that 冒悶 means "神智不清"; i would interpret "冒悶" as "emitting low spirits", an analog of "冒汗".

next, about 傷寒論, thought it was written by 張仲景 (150 - 219); the remark of "冒者﹒神識不清﹒如有物為之冒蒙也" was made by 程知, of 清 dynasty (1644 - 1911).

claiming, or implying that 張仲景 wrote such remark, is improper. further, there're [14 entries of "冒"](http://ctext.org/shang-han-lun/zh?searchu=%E5%86%92) in 傷寒論; "神識不清" does not fit them well.

have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: in the first paragraph of the article, "可是任何一部古代中医典籍中都没有“感冒”一词，原来，“感冒”这个常用语不是医学术语，而是来自官场，是一个官场专用语。" is incorrect. indeed, the earliest one i can find, that mentioned "感冒" is 醫說, which was a chinese medicine "book" of 宋 dynasty. "感冒" is a medical term since that time, it's not a "官場專用語".  
> **username_2**: i'm finding. there're 300+ appearances of 感冒 in literatures of yore, i guess it takes sometime, with, or without any results :)  
> **username_0**: Thank you in extremis for such a detailed answer! I am a very very grateful for your hard work! It will take me a week to read it and understand it, if not longer!  
> **username_2**: wish you a pleasant reading, without "literary chinese overload" :)  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-01-21. Score: 2

感冒 is the abbreviation of traditional medical term 「感风冒」. This means that once your body occasionally received some 「风」（pathogens）and it finally turns out and shows symptoms. Here 「冒」stands for 「(Sth.) to turn out, to express, to manifest」.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2017-01-21. Score: 1

I am not an expert in chinese grammar. But I am indeed a Chinese.
In Chinese Language we are not so clear about some verb, noun. @songyuanyao's answer should answer your question.

Except the meaning of 'catch a cold', 感冒 will use in a condition like "I'm not a fan of Lady Gaga's new song.(我对Lady Gaga的新歌不感冒, this just a translation made by I(or me don't know this gramar :P), I'm not expert of both Chinese and English.)". So if you are learning Chinese, maybe it's not a very good idea to understand every meaning of a Chinese character in a specific word(phrase), but it maybe helpful if you know the meaning of 冒 as a verb. And the site zdic.net is useful when you wish to understand the source of a word or Character, because it quotes lots of old Chinese sentence, but not so many modern Chinese.
For learning modern Chinese a dictionary called 《新华词典》is used by most Chinese students, but I don't know if it has a Chinese-English version.

So all I want to say is do not let one Character in a word borther you if you already know the meaning of the word(if you just want to understand chinese not being a translater or an expert), knowing common meaning of a character is enough for most situation. I'm saying this because I'm a Chinese and I did't know the meaning of 冒 in 感冒 until I saw this question and search the answer for it.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2023-08-07. Score: 0

That's a quite good question, for me, a Chinese has never thought about what's the meaning of 冒 in 感冒 and also has the same question as you: Why 冒 has all of these meanings that you have listed in the questions but none of them relate to "catch a fever"? The thing that I can tell you is that nowadays if we say 冒 independently, nobody will consider the meaning "catch a fever" although it might come from some ancient sentences. And if we want to say "catch a fever", we say 感 and 冒 together, 感冒, no need to research why we say "catch a 冒" :)


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### Answer by username_6 on 2023-08-08. Score: 0

Many chinese terms needed to be understood as a whole and not as the sum of their individual characters.

Take for example the term 大人. It can mean "adult," but can also mean "senior," when used in the context of old China's mandarin burreaucracy. Neither of the component characters is remotely related to this.

感冒 as a whole means "getting the flu."


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