麻醉品 (má zuì pǐn) — narcotic, drug (especially illegal narcotics)

Definition

noun

narcoticdrug (especially illegal narcotics)

Measure word · 种

麻醉品。
Jǐng fāng chá huò le dà liàng má zuì pǐn.
The police seized a large quantity of narcotics.
麻醉品。
Làn yòng má zuì pǐn huì yán zhòng sǔn hài jiàn kāng.
Abusing narcotics can seriously damage one's health.
麻醉品。
Zhè ge guó jiā yán lì dǎ jī má zuì pǐn zǒu sī.
This country strictly cracks down on drug smuggling.

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.

麻醉numb and intoxicated

麻mánumb醉zuìintoxicated

联合Side by side

麻醉 joins numb and intoxicated, and 品 means product, giving a narcotic product.

Characters in this word

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

麻 combines 厂 and 𣏟 to represent hemp leaves.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

酉卒醉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

酉酉yǒualcoholic drink

Sound part声符shēngfú

卒

卒zú醉zuì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

醉 combines 酉, a sign for alcoholic drink, with 卒, which supplies the sound.

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

品 repeats the same simple shape three times, representing various objects.