懂中文 Dong Chinese

药

yào

medicine

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

Components
艹 meaning component

艹  Meaning component

cao, cǎo

  

grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

约 sound component

约  Sound component

yuē, yāo

  

agreement

Evolution

药 Bronze script Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze script

Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
药 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
药 Clerical script Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)

Clerical script

Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)
药 Traditional script Modern

Traditional script

Modern
药 Simplified script Modern

Simplified script

Modern
Definitions

药 (藥) 

yào

drugs, pharmaceuticals, medicine; medicine; drug; substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting); CL:種|种[zhǒng],服[fù],味[wèi]; to poison

药 (葯) 

yào

leaf of the iris; variant of 藥|药[yào]

Most common words with 药
Freq.
Word
Meaning

药

drug

药物

medicaments

药品

medicaments

医药

medical

中药

(traditional) Chinese medicine