疫 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “epidemic”. It is written from 疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 殳 (a hand holding a long-handled tool or weapon), one enclosing the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “epidemic”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
疒 + 殳
Enclosing structure
- 疒 sickness radical (a person lying on a bed) · nè meaning
- 殳 a hand holding a long-handled tool or weapon · shū remnant
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（疒 0-4 共5画 + 殳 5-8 共4画 = 9画）；《说文解字》「疫：民皆疾也。从疒，役省聲」，右旁 殳 为「役」省形的遗留部分，非独立声符
Memory aid
The sickbed radical (疒) wraps around a hand swinging a weapon (殳): an illness that strikes people down one after another — an epidemic.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 疫苗yì miáovaccine疫 = yì
- 免疫miǎn yìimmune; immunity疫 = yì
Go deeper
All readings
epidemic
epidemic; plague; contagious disease
流行性的传染病。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 疫苗yì miáovaccine疫 = yì
- 免疫miǎn yìimmune; immunity疫 = yì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 疫 mean?
疫 (yì) means epidemic; plague; contagious disease.
How do you pronounce 疫?
It is pronounced yì.
What parts is 疫 made of?
疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 殳 (a hand holding a long-handled tool or weapon), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分，经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（疒 0-4 共5画 + 殳 5-8 共4画 = 9画）；《说文解字》「疫：民皆疾也。从疒，役省聲」，右旁 殳 为「役」省形的遗留部分，非独立声符. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 疫 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 疫?
疒. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 疫?
Common ones are 疫苗 and 免疫. The reading of 疫 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.