药 (yào): medicine
药 (yào) is a Chinese character meaning “medicine.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 约 (phonetic). It ranks #662 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 药 plant. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 菜 (cài, vegetable, dish).
Definitions
- medicine
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 药 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 药
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 药物noun | yào wù | medicaments | 5 |
| 药品noun | yào pǐn | medicaments | 5 |
| 医药noun | yī yào | medical care and medicines | 6 |
| 药店noun | yào diàn | pharmacy | 2 |
| 中药noun | zhōng yào | traditional Chinese medicine | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 炸药 | zhà yào | explosive |
| 毒药 | dú yào | poison |
| 弹药 | dàn yào | ammunition |
| 药片 | yào piàn | a (medicine) pill or tablet |
| 火药 | huǒ yào | gunpowder |
| 安眠药 | ān mián yào | sleeping pill |
| 服药 | fú yào | to take medicine |
| 药丸 | yào wán | pill |
| 药剂 | yào jì | medicine |
| 药房 | yào fáng | pharmacy |
| 下药 | xià yào | to prescribe medicine |
| 草药 | cǎo yào | herbal medicine |
| 制药 | zhì yào | to manufacture medicine |
| 避孕药 | bì yùn yào | oral contraceptive |
| 药膏 | yào gāo | ointment |
药 appears in 100 compound words: 33 as the first character, 66 as the last, and 1 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 药 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (10)
dogskin plaster, used in TCM for treating contusions, rheumatism etc; quack medicine; sham goods
Example Sentences
请按时吃药，不要漏服。
Qǐng ànshí chī yào, búyào lòu fú.
Please take your medicine on time; don't miss a dose.
通膨上升、减重药热销 美食品业降价吸引顾客回流
tōng péng shàng shēng , jiǎn chóng yào rè xiāo měi shí pǐn yè jiàng jià xī yǐn gù kè huí liú
Inflation rises, weight loss drugs are hot, and the price reduction of the US food industry attracts customers to return
制药设备热起来 皇将开年营收就翻倍成长
zhì yào shè bèi rè qǐ lái huáng jiāng kāi nián yíng shōu jiù fān bèi chéng cháng
Pharmaceutical equipment is heating up, and the revenue of the emperor will double at the beginning of the year
国金证券:国内制药供应链景气度上行持续 建议把握CXO行业...
guó jīn zhèng quàn : guó nèi zhì yào gōng yīng liàn jǐng qì dù shàng háng chí xù jiàn yì bǎ wò C X O háng yè . . .
Guojin Securities: The prosperity of the domestic pharmaceutical supply chain continues to rise, and it is recommended to grasp the CXO industry...
英国男子打砸香港机场 包中还搜出疑似管制药品
yīng guó nán zǐ dǎ zá xiāng gǎng jī chǎng bāo zhōng hái sōu chū yí shì guǎn zhì yào pǐn
British man vandalizes Hong Kong airport, suspected controlled substances found in his bag.
所有的医药费我大概要付多少？
Suǒyǒu de yīyàofèi wǒ dàgài yào fù duōshao?
About how much will I have to pay for all the treatments?
您已经吃过药了吗？
Nín yǐjīng chī guo yào le ma?
Have you taken your medicine yet?
他葫芦里不知卖的是什么药？
Tā húlu lǐ bù zhī mài de shì shénme yào?
I wonder what he's up to.
最近的药店在哪里？
Zuì jìn de yàodiàn zài nǎlǐ?
Where's the nearest drugstore?
你对任何药物过敏吗？
Nǐ duì rènhé yàowù guòmǐn ma?
Are you allergic to any medicine?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 药 (yào) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 药 have?
What is the radical of 药?
What are the components of 药?
What are common words containing 药?
What characters sound the same as 药 (yào)?
Is 药 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 药 with real-time feedback
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