鼠药 (shǔ yào) — rodenticide; rat poison

Definition

noun
rodenticiderat poison

Examples

  • 鼠药，。
    Zhè zhǒng shǔ yào hěn yǒu xiào, dàn yào zhù yì ān quán.
    This kind of rodenticide is very effective, but you need to be careful.
  • 鼠药，。
    Cāng kù lǐ fàng le yì xiē shǔ yào, fáng zhǐ lǎo shǔ.
    Some rat poison was placed in the warehouse to prevent mice.
  • 鼠药。
    Qǐng bǎ shǔ yào fàng zài ér tóng gòu bú dào de dì fāng.
    Please keep rodenticide out of reach of children.

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.

鼠shǔrat
药yàopoison

鼠 points to rats, and 药 is the poison used against them.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →

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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