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药物 (yào wù) — medication; medicine; pharmaceuticals

Definition

药物 is the formal, written word for medicinal substances — broader and more scientific than the everyday 药, and more general than 药品 (which stresses specific pharmaceutical products).

noun
medicationmedicinepharmaceuticals
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 药物。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì wǒ tíng yòng zhè zhǒng yào wù.
    The doctor advised me to stop taking this medication.
  • 药物。
    Zhè xiē yào wù bì xū fàng zài ér tóng gòu bú dào de dì fāng.
    These medicines must be kept out of children's reach.
  • 药物。
    Zhōng yào hé xī yào dōu shì zhòng yào de yào wù.
    Both Chinese medicine and Western medicine are important pharmaceuticals.

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
物wùsubstance/thing

药 gives the medicinal sense, and 物 names a substance, meaning 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.

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
牛牛niú
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù物wù
Same sound today

物 puts 牛 beside 勿: 牛 gives the meaning, and 勿 gives the sound.

Open 物 →
Appears in
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