昆布 (kūn bù) — (traditional Chinese medicine) kelp; the dried thallus of Laminaria japonica or Ecklonia kurome

Definition

The Chinese-medicine term for kelp, referring specifically to the dried thallus of Laminaria or Ecklonia used as a medicinal material — more clinical than the everyday food word 海带.

noun
(traditional Chinese medicine) kelpthe dried thallus of Laminaria japonica or Ecklonia kurome
Measure word · 味

Examples

  • 昆布。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā yòng kūn bù zhǔ tāng lái zhì liáo jiǎ zhuàng xiàn zhǒng dà.
    The doctor suggested he boil soup with kelp to treat his goiter.
  • 昆布。
    kūn bù Zài zhōng yào lǐ cháng yòng yú xiāo zhǒng sàn jié.
    Kelp is often used in Chinese medicine to reduce swelling and dissipate masses.
  • 昆布。
    Zhè dào yào shàn lǐ jiā le kūn bù hé hǎi zǎo.
    This medicated diet has kelp and other seaweed added.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

昆kūn
布bù

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; together they name the kelp used in Chinese medicine.

Sound-only characters

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

昆 is drawn from a picture of an insect’s body and legs.

Open 昆 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
巾巾jīnkerchief
Sound part声符shēngfú
父
父fù布bù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

布 pairs 巾, a kerchief, with 父 as a sound part.

Open 布 →

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