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苷 is a phono-semantic compound combining the grass radical 艹, indicating a plant, with 甘 ("sweet"), which also gives the pronunciation gān. In classical Chinese it referred to liquorice and other sweet medicinal herbs, directly drawing on the meanings of both components. Today it has been repurposed as a scientific term used almost exclusively for a glycoside, a compound formed when a sugar molecule bonds to another, replacing a hydroxyl group.
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