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草药 (cǎo yào) — herbal medicine

Definition

草药 (cǎoyào) refers to plant-based medicinal herbs, often gathered wild or sold as raw ingredients for home remedies. Narrower than 中药, which is the broader system of traditional Chinese medicine including mineral and animal substances.

noun
herbal medicine
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 草药。
    Tā nǎi nai yòng cǎo yào áo tāng zhì gǎn mào.
    His grandmother uses herbal medicine to make a soup to treat colds.
  • 草药，。
    Zhè jiā diàn mài gè zhǒng cǎo yào, kě yǐ bāng nǐ tiáo lǐ shēn tǐ.
    This shop sells all kinds of herbal medicine that can help regulate your body.
  • 草药。
    Wǒ yé ye zài shān shàng cǎi le hěn duō cǎo yào.
    My grandfather picked a lot of herbal medicine on the mountain.

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.

草cǎoherb
药yàomedicine

草 means herb or grass, and 药 means medicine, so the word names medicine made from plants.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

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
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Medicine & TreatmentTraditional Medicine & Philosophy

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