汤剂 (tāng jì) — decoction (in Chinese medicine)

Definition

汤剂 is a Traditional Chinese Medicine term for a liquid herbal medicine made by simmering (boiling) raw herbs in water — the everyday TCM form of herbal medicine.

noun
decoction (in Chinese medicine)

Examples

  • 汤剂，。
    Yī shēng gěi wǒ kāi le sān tiān de tāng jì, měi tiān hē liǎng cì.
    The doctor prescribed me a three-day course of decoction, to be taken twice daily.
  • 汤剂，。
    Zhè zhǒng tāng jì de wèi dào hěn kǔ, dàn shì duì ké sou hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
    This kind of decoction tastes very bitter, but it really helps with coughing.
  • 汤剂，。
    tāng jì Xū yào màn màn áo, bù néng yí xià zi zhǔ kāi.
    A decoction needs to be simmered slowly; you can't just boil it quickly.

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.

汤tāngdecoction
剂jìpreparation

The boiled liquid 汤 is made into a medicinal preparation 剂.

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 湯; 汤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng湯tāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 汤, the shape explained is 湯: 氵 is water, and 昜 gives the sound.

Open 汤 →

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 劑; 剂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
刂Written in full as刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
齊
齊qí劑jì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 劑, 齊 gives the sound and 刂 (刀, a knife) shows the meaning. The simplified 剂 is a later shorthand.

Open 剂 →

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