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药丸 (yào wán) — pill (medicine)

Definition

noun
pill (medicine)
Measure word · 粒

Examples

  • 药丸。
    Yī shēng ràng wǒ měi tiān chī sān cì yào wán.
    The doctor told me to take the pill three times a day.
  • 药丸，。
    Zhè zhǒng yào wán shì zhōng yào zuò de, wèi dào yǒu diǎn kǔ.
    This kind of pill is made from Chinese medicine and tastes a bit bitter.
  • 药丸。
    Qǐng bǎ yào wán fàng zài hái zi gòu bú dào de dì fāng.
    Please keep the pills where children can't reach them.

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.

药yàomedicine
丸wánpill

药 refers to medicine and 丸 to a small round dose; together they mean a medicinal pill.

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 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 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

丸 is a later form split off from 夗. One explanation says its shape came from turning over a character meaning to tilt, giving the sense of something round.

Open 丸 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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