Meaning of 中药
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- traditional Chinese medicine
Measure word: 服
How to use 中药
中药 usually refers to the herbs, roots and other remedies used in traditional Chinese medicine, and it is often contrasted with 西药 (xīyào), Western medicine. You commonly hear it with verbs like 吃 (chī) or 喝 (hē). Example: 我感冒了，在喝中药。(Wǒ gǎnmào le, zài hē zhōngyào.) I have a cold, so I am drinking Chinese medicine.
中 (zhōng) is short for 中国 (Zhōngguó), China, and 药 (yào) means medicine. Put them together and you get Chinese medicine, the herbal kind your grandmother might boil at home.
Common mistake: Learners often say 中医 (zhōngyī) and 中药 as if they were the same. 中医 is the medical practice or the doctor, while 中药 is the medicine itself. Also keep 药 in the fourth tone, yào, not yāo.
中药 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
中 zhōng · within · 4 strokes
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药 yào · medicine · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 中药.
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | China |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | the middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among |
| 中午 | zhōngwǔ | noon; midday |
| 中学 | zhōngxué | middle school |
| 中文 | Zhōngwén | Chinese language |
| 中学生 | zhōngxuéshēng | middle-school student; high school student |
| 其中 | qízhōng | among; in |
| 中心 | zhōngxīn | center; heart; core |
| 高中 | gāozhōng | senior high school (abbr. for 高級中學|高级中学[gao1 ji2 zhong1 xue2]) |
| 心中 | xīnzhōng | central point; in one's thoughts |
| 药片 | yàopiàn | a (medicine) pill or tablet |
| 药店 | yàodiàn | pharmacy; drugstore |
Questions about 中药
What does 中药 mean?
中药 (zhōngyào) means "traditional Chinese medicine" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 中药?
中药 is made of 2 characters: 中 (4 strokes), 药 (9 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 中药 an HSK word?
Yes. 中药 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 中药 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 中药 is written 中藥.
What is the difference between 中药 and 西药?
中药 (zhōngyào) is traditional Chinese medicine, usually made from plants, minerals or animal products. 西药 (xīyào) is Western medicine, such as pills made by modern pharmaceutical methods.
How do you say you take Chinese medicine in Chinese?
You can say 吃中药 (chī zhōngyào) for pills or general use, or 喝中药 (hē zhōngyào) for the brewed herbal liquid. To make it, people say 煎中药 (jiān zhōngyào), meaning to decoct the herbs.