抗生素 (kàng shēng sù) — antibiotic | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

antibiotic

抗生素。
Zhè zhǒng kàng shēng sù duì fèi yán hěn yǒu xiào.
This antibiotic is very effective against pneumonia.
抗生素。
Fú yòng kàng shēng sù qī jiān bù néng hē jiǔ.
You cannot drink alcohol while taking antibiotics.
抗生素。
Yī shēng jiàn yì tā tíng zhǐ shǐ yòng kàng shēng sù.
The doctor advised him to stop using antibiotics.

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.

抗生resist life

动宾Verb + object

素sùsubstance

The 素 substance is one that 抗 resists 生 life.

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.

扌亢抗

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng抗kàng

Same sound today

抗 is made from 扌, a written form of 手 (hand), and 亢, which gives the sound.

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 素 came from a picture of hands braiding thread.

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