药食同源 yào shí tóng yuán

lit. food and medicine come from the same source (idiom)

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. food and medicine come from the same source (idiom)
  2. 2. fig. there is no clear-cut distinction between food and medicine

Characters

Character Meaning
药 yào HSK 2
medicine; drug
食 shí HSK 5
to eat; food; animal feed
同 tóng HSK 1
same; together; with
源 yuán HSK 5
origin; source; root