药

葯/藥

yào

约 + 艹

HSK 2.0Level 2

HSK 3.0Level 2

Definitions

yào (noun) medicine; drug

yào (noun) substance used for specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, fermenting)

yào (verb) to poison

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 约 represents the sound. Simplified form of 藥.

Semantic: 艹 Phonetic: 约

About

The character 药 features the plant radical 艹 at the top, marking its link to botany, and the phonetic 约 (yuē) below. It is the simplified form of 藥, which originally paired 艹 with the phonetic 樂 (music/joy), a component that may have hinted at the soothing properties of medicinal herbs. Initially referring to medicinal herbs, 药 now extends to all types of medicine, pharmaceuticals, and drugs. The simplification replaces the complex 樂 with the more compact 约.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

药已经吃完了。

Yào yǐjīng chī wán le。

The medicine is already finished.

请你按时吃这种药。

Qǐng nǐ ànshí chī zhè zhǒng yào。

Please take this medicine on time.

这个药方的效果很好。

Zhège yàofāng de xiàoguǒ hěn hǎo。

This prescription is very effective.

中药和西药各有优势。

Zhōngyào hé xīyào gè yǒu yōushì。

Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine each have their advantages。

这家药店的营业时间很长。

Zhè jiā yàodiàn de yíngyè shíjiān hěn cháng。

This pharmacy has very long business hours。

滥用药物会导致健康问题。

Lànyòng yàowù huì dǎozhì jiànkāng wèntí。

Drug abuse can lead to health problems.

新药的研发需要大量资金。

Xīn yào de yánfā xūyào dàliàng zījīn。

The research and development of new drugs requires a large amount of funding.

这种农药对环境的危害很大。

Zhè zhǒng nóngyào duì huánjìng de wēihài hěn dà。

This kind of pesticide is very harmful to the environment.

Related Characters

Component: 约

Component: 艹

药