止痛 (zhǐ tòng) — to relieve pain, to stop pain | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Used for actions or medicines that stop or relieve pain, as in 止痛药 'painkiller'. More specific than the general 疼 'hurt' — it focuses on relieving, not describing pain.

verb

to relieve painto stop pain

Examples

止痛。
Zhè zhǒng yào kě yǐ zhǐ tòng.
This kind of medicine can relieve pain.
，。
Tā chī le yào, zhōng yú zhǐ zhù le tòng.
He took the medicine and finally stopped the pain.
。
Yī shēng gěi tā kāi le zhǐ tòng yào.
The doctor prescribed him pain-relief medicine.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

止 (stop) and 痛 (pain) combine to mean stopping pain.

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.

Appears in

Medicine & Treatment

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