冬 虫 夏 草

dōng chóng xià cǎodictionary entry

caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) (The fungus grows within the body of a caterpillar, culminating in the emergence of a stalked fruiting body from the caterpillar's head, and is a much-prized and expensive ingredient used as a tonic in traditional Chinese 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-74617726bf134345. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

冬蟲夏草 冬虫夏草 [dong1 chong2 xia4 cao3] /caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) (The fungus grows within the body of a caterpillar, culminating in the emergence of a stalked fruiting body from the caterpillar's head, and is a much-prized and expensive ingredient used as a tonic in traditional Chinese 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: 冬蟲夏草

冬
dōng
winter / (onom.) beating a drum / rat-a-tat
Dōng
surname Dong
虫
chóng
lower form of animal life, including insects, insect larvae, worms and similar creatures / CL:條|条[tiáo],隻|只[zhī] / (fig.) person with a particular undesirable characteristic
夏
xià
summer
Xià
the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC / Xia of the Sixteen Kingdoms (407–432) / surname Xia
草
cǎo
grass / straw / manuscript / draft (of a document) / careless / rough / CL:棵[kē],撮[zuǒ],株[zhū],根[gēn]
cào
See the full entry for source details.

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.