药粉 (yào fěn) — medicinal powder | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

medicinal powder

Measure word · 种

药粉。
Yī shēng gěi wǒ kāi le yì xiē yào fěn.
The doctor prescribed some medicinal powder for me.
药粉。
Zhè zhǒng yào fěn xū yào yòng wēn shuǐ hē.
This kind of medicinal powder needs to be taken with warm water.
。
Měi cì chī yào fěn zhī qián yào yáo yi yáo píng zi.
Before taking the medicinal powder each time, you need to shake the bottle.

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

Powder made from 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.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

米分粉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

Same sound today

粉 pairs 米 (rice) with 分 for its sound. The rice part points to face powder made from rice.