疗 (liáo) is a Chinese character meaning “to treat an illness”. It is written from 疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 了 (le — particle), one enclosing the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “to treat an illness”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
疒 + 了
Enclosing structure
Structure from: 现代简化字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-4 疒 / 5-6 了；类推简化 療→疗）
Memory aid
The sickness frame 疒 leans over 了. When the treatment works, the illness is 了 — done and over with.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 医疗yī liáomedical treatment; health care疗 = liáo
- 治疗zhì liáoto treat (an illness); treatment; therapy疗 = liáo
Go deeper
All readings
to treat (illness)
to treat an illness; to cure; therapy
治病；使病情好转。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 医疗yī liáomedical treatment; health care疗 = liáo
- 治疗zhì liáoto treat (an illness); treatment; therapy疗 = liáo
Sound component
了 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 疗 mean?
疗 (liáo) means to treat an illness; to cure; therapy.
How do you pronounce 疗?
It is pronounced liáo.
What parts is 疗 made of?
疒 (sickness radical (a person lying on a bed)) and 了 (le — particle), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代简化字形拆分（hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：0-4 疒 / 5-6 了；类推简化 療→疗）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 疗 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 疗?
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 疗?
Common ones are 医疗. The reading of 疗 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.