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镇静药 (zhèn jìng yào) — sedative, tranquilizer

Definition

noun
sedativetranquilizer

Examples

  • 镇静药。
    Yī shēng gěi tā kāi le yì xiē zhèn jìng yào bāng zhù shuì mián.
    The doctor prescribed him some sedatives to help him sleep.
  • 镇静药。
    Zhè zhǒng zhèn jìng yào de yào xiào hěn wēn hé.
    This kind of tranquilizer has a very mild effect.
  • 镇静药。
    Cháng qī fú yòng zhèn jìng yào huì chǎn shēng yī lài.
    Long-term use of sedatives can lead to dependence.

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.

镇静
镇zhèncalm静jìngquiet
联合Coordinate
药yàomedicine

镇 calm and 静 quiet form sedate, and 药 medicine names a calming drug.

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 鎮; 镇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn鎮zhèn
Same sound today

The traditional form 鎮 uses 金, metal, and 真, which gave its sound; it depicted pressing down with a metal weight. The simplified 镇 is a later abbreviation.

Open 镇 →

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 靜; 静 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 靜, not the simplified 静, uses 青 and 爭 for sound; an old source also treats 青 (blue) as a meaning part.

Open 静 →

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 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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