() - plague & pestilence

Tone 4

lì | 8 strokes | radical: 疒

·

plague;

pestilence;

epidemic disease;

also refers to leprosy or other severe skin diseases.

plaguepestilenceepidemic disease

Usage highlights

plagueleprosypestilential qimalignant diseasepestilenceto prevent epidemics

Synonyms

Antonyms

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The plague (疠疫) ravaged the population.
  • Leprosy (疠风) was once a greatly feared disease.
  • Ancient texts describe pestilential qi (疠气) causing epidemics.

Collocations

  • plague(疠疫)
  • leprosy(疠风)
  • pestilential qi(疠气)
  • malignant disease(恶疠)
  • pestilence(疫疠)
  • to prevent epidemics(防疠)

Idioms

  • Plague and pestilence run rampant(疠疫横行)
  • To suffer from leprosy(身染疠疾)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Historically associated with severe, often epidemic diseases, reflecting pre-modern medical understanding.
  • In traditional Chinese medicine, '疠气' refers to a specific pathogenic factor causing epidemics with rapid onset and strong infectivity.
  • The character's radical 疒 (sickness) directly indicates its association with disease.

FAQ