The Chinese word 止痛药 (zhǐtòngyào), meaning "painkiller", is a logically constructed compound term formed by combining three distinct characters: 止 (zhǐ, "to stop"), 痛 (tòng, "pain"), and 药 (yào, "medicine"). It follows a clear descriptive sequence where the verb-object phrase 止痛 ("to stop pain") modifies the noun 药 ("medicine"), resulting in the straightforward and semantically transparent concept of "pain-stopping medicine". This structure is a common and productive method in Mandarin for creating precise compound nouns by specifying a function or purpose.