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药材 (yào cái) — medicinal ingredient (used in Traditional Chinese Medicine)

Definition

药材 refers to raw medicinal ingredients, especially herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine — a material, not a finished product. Unlike 药物/药品 (manufactured drugs), 药材 points to the unprocessed substance itself.

noun
medicinal ingredient (used in Traditional Chinese Medicine)
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 药材。
    Zhè xiē yào cái de zhì liàng hěn hǎo.
    These medicinal ingredients are of good quality.
  • 药材。
    Yī shēng gěi wǒ kāi le jǐ wèi yào cái.
    The doctor prescribed several medicinal ingredients.
  • 药材。
    Zhè xiē yào cái xū yào xiān jìn pào zài jiān.
    These medicinal ingredients need to be soaked before decocting.

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.

药yàomedicine
材cáimaterial

药 specifies medicine and 材 the raw material, together meaning medicinal ingredients.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 藥; 药 is its simplified writing.

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.

Open 药 →

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
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
才
才cái材cái
Same sound today

材 combines 木, wood, with 才, cái, as its sound part.

Open 材 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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