錠じょう剤ざい

じょ

う

ざ

い

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

noun

tablet; pill; lozenge

A solid medicinal dose shaped as a tablet, pill, or lozenge. Common in medical and everyday contexts when talking about medicine forms.

この薬くすりは錠じょう剤ざいな

の

で

、

水みず

で

飲の

ん

で

ください

。

This medicine is a tablet, so please take it with water.

粉こな薬ぐすりより錠じょう剤ざいのほうが飲のみやすい。

Tablets are easier to take than powdered medicine.

Usage patterns

錠じょう剤ざいを飲のむto take a tablet/pill
この錠じょう剤ざいを水みずで飲のんでください。
Please take this tablet with water.
錠じょう剤ざいを服ふく用ようするto take (a tablet) as medicine, formal phrasing
この錠じょう剤ざいは1日にち3回かい服ふく用ようしてください。
Please take this tablet three times a day.
〈数すう〉錠じょうの錠じょう剤ざいa certain number of tablets
毎まい朝あさ2錠じょうの錠じょう剤ざいを飲のんでいます。
I take two tablets every morning.

Kanji

錠lock, fetters, shackles
剤dose, medicine, drug

Related words

ピル
錠剤 is the general Japanese word for any tablet-shaped medicine, while ピル often specifically suggests a birth-control pill or has a loanword feel.
錠じょう
錠剤 is the full, formal word for a tablet or pill, while 錠 is typically used as its counter or in abbreviated speech (e.g. 一日三錠).
タブレット
錠剤 is the formal, medical term for a pill or tablet, while タブレット is the more casual loanword used in everyday speech.

Don't confuse with

カプセル
錠剤 is a solid pressed pill, while カプセル is medicine enclosed in a dissolvable shell, so learners may mix up the two forms.
丸がん薬やく
錠剤 is the general modern term for a pressed tablet, whereas 丸薬 refers to a traditional, often hand-rolled round pill.
粉こな薬ぐすり
錠剤 is medicine in solid tablet form, while 粉薬 is medicine in loose powder form.

Counted with

粒つぶN2
For small grain-like items — beans, pills, drops, tears, pearls.
錠じょう
For tablets and pills (1日3錠).

Etymology

A Sino-Japanese compound: 錠 is conventionally used for tablet-like forms, and 剤 means a medicinal preparation or dose. No historical derivation is specified.