薬

薬 (radical 140, 艸+13, 16 strokes, cangjie input 廿戈人木 (TIOD), composition ⿱艹楽)

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 1062, character 44
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32188
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 5, page 3303, character 5
• Unihan data for U+85AC

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 藥)

• Go-on: やく (yaku, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: やく (yaku, Jōyō)
• Kun: くす (kusu, 薬); くすり (kusuri, 薬, Jōyō)
• Nanori: み (mi)

From Old Japanese. Cognate with the kusu root of adjective 奇し (kusushi, “mystical”)[1], from the way that drugs and medicines would have mystical effects.

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝsɨᵝ]

薬 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 藥, hiragana くす, rōmaji kusu)

1. A medicine or drug.

Only used in compounds.

From Proto-Japonic *kusori. Derivation from kusu above. Appears to be the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or noun form”) of hypothetical verb kusuru “to have a mystical effect”.

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) くすり [kùsúrí] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [kɯ̟̊ᵝsɨᵝɾʲi]

薬 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 藥, hiragana くすり, rōmaji kusuri)

1. A substance with mystical properties, especially one that has an effect on the body, health, or lifespan.
2. A medicine or drug, a pharmaceutical.
3. A chemical, generally toxic and used for its effect on living organisms, such as insecticide or herbicide.
4. A substance that has a beneficial effect in improving or maintaining one's health.
5. (figuratively) Something that has a beneficial effect in correcting one's mistakes.
6. Short for 釉薬 (uwagusuri): A glaze or enamel applied to ceramics.
7. Gunpowder (from the “mystical substance” sense, and the second character in the word 火薬 (kayaku, “gunpowder”)).
8. (figuratively) A small bribe.

The medicine sense is probably the most common in modern Japanese.

From Middle Chinese 藥／药 (yak, “drug, medicine”). Compare modern Cantonese 藥／药 (joek6).

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) や​く [yáꜜkù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [ja̠kɯ̟ᵝ]

薬 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 藥, hiragana やく, rōmaji yaku)

1. (slang) A medicine or drug, especially a narcotic or other recreational drug.

The slang meaning is generally limited to when the term yaku is used as a standalone noun. In compounds, yaku refers more generally to pharmaceuticals, or sometimes chemicals.