复方 (fù fāng) — compounded medication (containing multiple acti…

Definition

Technical medical/TCM term for a medicine formula with multiple active ingredients, contrasted with 单方 (single-ingredient).

noun

compounded medication (containing multiple active ingredients)

复方。
Yī shēng gěi wǒ kāi le yì zhǒng fù fāng gǎn mào yào.
The doctor prescribed me a compound cold medicine.
复方。
Zhè zhǒng fù fāng hán yǒu liǎng zhǒng yǒu xiào chéng fèn.
This compound medication contains two active ingredients.
复方。
Zhōng yào lǐ yě yǒu fù fāng hé dān fāng de qū bié.
In Chinese medicine, there is also a distinction between compound and single-ingredient formulas.

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.

复fùmultiple

方fāngprescription

复 suggests multiple ingredients, and 方 is a formula or prescription.

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 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

彳复復

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彳彳chìwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

复

Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.