症 (zhèng) is a Chinese character meaning “disease”. It is written from 疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 正 (upright; straight; correct), one enclosing the other, and takes 10 strokes. It has a second reading, zhēng, which turns up in 症结 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “illness; symptom”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
疒 + 正
Enclosing structure
- 疒 sickness radical (a person lying on a bed) · nè meaning
- 正 upright; straight; correct · zhèng sound
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-4 疒 / 5-9 正）
Memory aid
Under the sickness frame 疒 sits 正 (zhèng, "upright"). The frame shows it is about illness; 正 lends the sound — a symptom, zhèng.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 症状zhèng zhuàngsymptom症 = zhèng
- 炎症yán zhènginflammation症 = zhèng
Go deeper
All readings
illness; symptom
disease; illness; symptom
疾病；病的表现。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 症状zhèng zhuàngsymptom症 = zhèng
- 炎症yán zhènginflammation症 = zhèng
crux (in 症结)
used in 症结: the crux of a problem
用于「症结」，比喻问题的关键所在。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 症结zhēng jiécrux; root of a problem症 = zhēng
Sound component
正 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 症 mean?
症 (zhèng) means disease; illness; symptom.
How do you pronounce 症?
Its main reading is zhèng. It also has a second reading, zhēng, which only shows up in certain words such as 症结 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 症 sometimes pronounced zhēng?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 症结 it is read zhēng.
What parts is 症 made of?
疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 正 (upright; straight; correct), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-4 疒 / 5-9 正）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 症 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 症?
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 症?
Common ones are 症状 and 炎症. The reading of 症 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.