配药 (pèi yào) — (pharmacist) to fill a prescription, to dispense medicine; (patient) to buy prescribed medicine, to collect a prescription

Definition

Refers to the act of filling a prescription: usually what the pharmacist does behind the counter (making up the medicine), but also used when the patient goes to pick it up.

verb
(pharmacist) to fill a prescriptionto dispense medicine(patient) to buy prescribed medicineto collect a prescription

Examples

  • 配药。
    Wǒ qù yào diàn pèi yào.
    I'm going to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled.
  • ，。
    Yī shēng kāi le yào fāng, wǒ zuó tiān qù pèi le yí cì yào.
    The doctor wrote a prescription; I went to get it filled once yesterday.
  • 配药。
    Yào jì shī zhèng zài guì tái hòu miàn pèi yào.
    The pharmacist is making up a prescription behind the counter.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

配pèifill
药yàomedicine

配 is filling or mixing, and 药 is the medicine being prepared.

Characters in this word

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

  • 酉酉yǒualcohol vessel
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

配 is formed by putting 酉, an alcohol vessel, next to 卩, a kneeling person. The reference gives these two parts, but not the reason they combine.

Open 配 →

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 →

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