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处方 (chǔ fāng) — (noun) medical prescription; (verb) to prescribe (a medicine, remedy, etc.); (noun, figurative) recommendation, advice

Definition

处方 is literally a medical prescription (the doctor's written order for medicine); figuratively, a 'recipe' for fixing a problem — more technical and clinical than 建议 ('suggestion') or 推荐 ('recommendation').

noun
medical prescription
verb
to prescribe (a medicine, remedy, etc.)(noun, figurative) recommendationadvice
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 处方。
    Zhè shì yī shēng gěi wǒ kāi de chǔ fāng.
    This is the prescription the doctor gave me.
  • 处方。
    Yī shēng zhèng zài wèi bìng rén chǔ fāng.
    The doctor is prescribing for the patient.
  • 处方。
    Zhè shì jiě jué zhè ge wèn tí de chǔ fāng.
    This is the prescription for solving this problem.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

处chùprescribe
方fāngformula

处 prescribe and 方 formula combine to mean a prescribed medical formula.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 處; 处 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夂夂zhǐ
几几jǐtable
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū處chǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 處 pairs 虍, giving the sound, with 夂 and 几, a table, as meaning parts. The simplified 处 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 处 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Medicine & Treatment

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