火药 (huǒ yào) — gunpowder | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

gunpowder

火药。
Zhōng guó sì dà fā míng zhī yī jiù shì huǒ yào.
Gunpowder is one of China's four great inventions.
火药。
Gǔ dài rén yòng huǒ yào zhì zào wǔ qì hé yān huā.
Ancient people used gunpowder to make weapons and fireworks.
火药。
huǒ yào De fā míng gǎi biàn le zhàn zhēng de fāng shì.
The invention of gunpowder changed the way wars were fought.

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yàopowder/medicine

“火” refers to fire and “药” to powder or medicine, together naming the explosive powder.

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

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.

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