tou3菟
Jyutpingtou3
Yaletou
Definition
Dodder (Cuscuta sinensis), a parasitic vine with seeds used in traditional medicine.
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How it's used
Rarely used on its own in daily speech, this character almost exclusively appears in the compound 菟絲子 when referring to the medicinal seed. It functions as a specialized term within traditional Chinese medicine rather than a common botanical name for the plant in the wild. You will mostly encounter it written on packaging in herbal shops or mentioned in health-related discussions.
Examples
Related words
Common phrases
dodder seed
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 兔, which means rabbit. While they share a similar visual component, the radical and meaning are completely different.
Grammar color guide
Noun
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
