补品 (bǔ pǐn) — tonic, health supplement

Definition

noun
tonichealth supplement
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 补品。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng chī yì zhǒng bǔ pǐn lái zēng qiáng tǐ zhì.
    I take a kind of tonic every morning to strengthen my body.
  • 补品。
    Zhè zhǒng bǔ pǐn duì lǎo nián rén de jiàn kāng hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
    This tonic is very helpful for the health of elderly people.
  • 补品，。
    Tā zài yào diàn mǎi le bù shǎo bǔ pǐn, zhǔn bèi sòng gěi fù mǔ.
    He bought several tonics at the pharmacy, planning to give them to his parents.

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.

补bǔtonify
品pǐnproduct

'补' contributes tonifying and '品' product, giving a product that tonifies health.

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 補; 补 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
甫
甫fǔ補bǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 補 shows 衤 (clothes) beside 甫, which gives the sound; the simplified 补 is a later shorthand, so its shape is not the historical breakdown.

Open 补 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.

Open 品 →

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