ChiramiN4 kanji · 16 strokes
薬 means medicine
薬
艹 plants · 楽 comfort
薬Memory trick
Plants that bring comfort (楽): medicine.
Memory trick: a picture to help you remember the kanji, not its history.
Meaning and readings
- Meanings
- medicine, chemical, enamel, benefit
- JLPT level
- N4
- Strokes
- 16
- School grade
- Grade 3 in Japan
Japanese (kunyomi) くすり kusuri
くすり (kusuri) is the Japanese word for this kanji. You use it when the kanji stands alone or has kana after it. Dictionaries call this the kun reading.
From Chinese (onyomi) ヤク yaku
ヤク (yaku) came from Chinese with the character. You mostly hear it in words made of several kanji. Dictionaries call this the on reading.
Tap a reading to see when it's used. Why kanji have two kinds of reading: onyomi vs kunyomi.
Common word
薬局 やっきょく · yakkyoku
pharmacy, drugstore
Built from
Tap a part to see the N5 and N4 kanji that use it.
艹 Used in 82 kanji
See all 6 at N5 and N4冫 Used in 35 kanji
See all 4 at N5 and N4Quick check
What does 薬 mean?
Right: 薬 means medicine.Not quite: 薬 means medicine.In 薬局, which reading does 薬 use?
Right. 薬局 is read やっきょく (yakkyoku): 薬 takes ヤク, its reading from Chinese, which becomes やっ here.Not quite. 薬局 is read やっきょく (yakkyoku): 薬 takes ヤク, its reading from Chinese, which becomes やっ here.