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是藥三分毒

简是药三分毒 · 繁是藥三分毒

Mandarin · pinyin shì yào sān fēn dú

every medicine has its side effect

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Characters in this entry

是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
藥: Look up this written character
三: sān · three
分: fēn · divide; small unit of time etc.
毒: dú · poison, venom; poisonous
药: yào · leaf of Dahurian angelica plant; medicine

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1–2 · shi4 yao4 san1 fen1 du2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

是藥三分毒 · find source passages ↗ · 是药三分毒 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

si6 joek6 saam1 fan1 duk6

Cantonese word readings for 是藥三分毒. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

proverb

all medicine has its side effects

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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