The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

药食同源

yào shí tóng yuándictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. food and medicine come from the same source (idiom) / fig. there is no clear-cut distinction between food and medicine
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-6cb43e0c198c5776. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

藥食同源 药食同源 [yao4 shi2 tong2 yuan2] /lit. food and medicine come from the same source (idiom)/fig. there is no clear-cut distinction between food and medicine/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 藥食同源

  • 药
    yào

    leaf of the iris / medicine / drug / substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting) / CL:種|种[zhǒng],服[fù],味[wèi] / to poison

  • 食
    shí

    to eat / food / animal feed / eclipse

    sì

    to feed (a person or animal)

  • 同
    tóng

    like / same / similar / together / alike / with

    tòng

    used in 胡同[hú tòng] / used in 衚衕|胡同[hú tòng]

  • 源
    yuán

    root / source / origin

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.