消炎 (xiāo yán) — to reduce inflammation; anti-inflammatory

Definition

A medical term meaning 'to reduce or clear inflammation,' typically used in the context of medicine or treatment. As a verb-object phrase, it can be split: 消了炎 (completed) or 消一次炎 (once).

verb
to reduce inflammationanti-inflammatory

Examples

  • 消炎。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ chī zhè ge yào lái xiāo yán.
    The doctor suggested I take this medicine to reduce inflammation.
  • ,。
    Tā chī le yào yǐ hòu, hěn kuài jiù xiāo le yán.
    After taking the medicine, he quickly reduced the inflammation.
  • 。
    Zhè ge yào xiāo yí cì yán xū yào sān tiān.
    This medicine takes three days to reduce inflammation once.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

消xiāoreduce
炎yáninflammation

'消' reduces '炎', easing inflammation.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào消xiāo
Same sound today

消 has 氵 (water) beside 肖. The water part connects to putting out or making something vanish, and 肖 gives the sound.

Open 消 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

炎 places two 火 (fire) shapes vertically, one above the other, to show fire doubled.

Open 炎 →

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