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药方 (yào fāng) — prescription

Definition

药方 is a traditional/Chinese-medicine word for a prescription (the written formula). 处方 is the modern, clinical term, especially for Western medicine; 配方 also means 'formula/recipe'.

noun
prescription
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 药方。
    Yī shēng gěi wǒ kāi le yí gè yào fāng.
    The doctor wrote me a prescription.
  • 药方。
    Qǐng àn yào fāng qù yào diàn mǎi yào.
    Please go to the pharmacy and buy the medicine according to the prescription.
  • 药方。
    Zhè zhāng yào fāng shì zhōng yào de.
    This prescription is for Chinese medicine.

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
方fāngformula

药 relates to medicine and 方 to a formula, together meaning a 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 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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Medicine & Treatment

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