止痛片 (zhǐ tòng piān) — painkiller tablet; pain-relief pill | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

painkiller tabletpain-relief pill

Measure word · 片

Examples

，止痛片。
Wǒ tóu téng, chī le yí piàn zhǐ tòng piān.
I have a headache, so I took a painkiller tablet.
止痛片，。
Zhè zhǒng zhǐ tòng piān xiào guǒ hěn hǎo, dàn bú yào duō chī.
This kind of painkiller works well, but don't take too many.
止痛片。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā fàn hòu fú yòng zhǐ tòng piān.
The doctor advised him to take the painkiller after meals.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

止痛stop pain

止zhǐstop痛tòngpain

动宾Verb + object

“止” + “痛” gives the idea of stopping pain, and “片” is the tablet that does it.

Characters in this word

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

止 was drawn as a footprint pointing up, with three toes and a sole, originally showing a foot.

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

疒甬痛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒疒nèillness

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng痛tòng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 疒 part means illness, and 甬 gives the sound; together they form 痛, meaning pain or hurt.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Medicine & Treatment

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