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药都 (yào dōu) — medicine capital; a city renowned for its pharmaceutical industry, especially traditional Chinese medicine

Definition

A fixed label for a city famous as a hub of the pharmaceutical industry, especially traditional Chinese medicine (e.g., 亳州). It is usually used as a title or nickname, not for casual reference.

noun
medicine capitala city renowned for its pharmaceutical industry, especially traditional Chinese medicine
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 亳药都。
    Bó zhōu bèi chēng wéi zhōng guó de yào dōu.
    Bozhou is known as China's medicine capital.
  • 药都。
    Tā xiǎng qù yào dōu xué xí zhōng yī yào zhī shi.
    She wants to go to the medicine capital to study traditional Chinese medicine.
  • 药都。
    yào dōu De zhōng yào shì chǎng fēi cháng fán róng.
    The herbal medicine market in the medicine capital is very prosperous.

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
都dōucapital

药 means medicine and 都 means capital, so 药都 is a city known for 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
邑邑yìtown, city
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě都dōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

都 is built from 者, which supplies the sound, and 邑, meaning town or city.

Open 都 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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