毒药 (dú yào) — poison, toxicant | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

poisontoxicant

毒药，。
Zhè zhǒng dú yào wú sè wú wèi, hěn nán bèi chá jué.
This kind of poison is colorless and odorless, making it hard to detect.
毒药。
Tā huái yí yǒu rén zài tā de yǐn liào lǐ xià le dú yào.
He suspected that someone had put poison in her drink.
毒药。
Lì shǐ shàng xǔ duō tǒng zhì zhě dōu céng yòng dú yào lái chú diào zhèng dí.
Many rulers in history have used poison to eliminate political enemies.

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.

药yàomedicine

毒 gives poison, and 药 gives medicine, yielding a poisonous medicine.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

屮屮chèvegetation

Sound part声符shēngfú

毐

毐ǎi毒dú

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

毒 pairs 屮, a plant part, with 毐 as a sound part; this form was used for a poisonous plant.

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 藥; 药 is its simplified writing.

艹樂藥

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

樂

樂lè藥yào

Same sound today

In the traditional form 藥, 艹 shows grass and 樂 gives the sound; this story is about 藥, not about the simplified 药.

Appears in