癘 (lì) - plague, pestilence & epidemic disease

癘Tone 4

lì ｜ 17 strokes ｜ radical:

俊梁

癘 · lì

plague, pestilence;

epidemic disease;

leprosy;

refers to severe contagious diseases in traditional Chinese medicine.

plague, pestilenceepidemic diseaseleprosy

Usage highlights

pestilential qiepidemic diseaseleprosypestilential evilwind pestilencepestilential toxin

Synonyms

  • 疫— epidemic, plague
  • 瘟— pestilence, epidemic
  • 疾— disease, illness

Antonyms

  • 康— health, well-being
  • 健— healthy, robust

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The village was struck by a plague (瘟疫).
  • Leprosy is also known as 大麻风 (dà má fēng).
  • In ancient times, pestilence (疫疠) often caused mass deaths.
  • Traditional medicine texts describe various epidemic diseases (疠气).

Collocations

  • pestilential qi(疠气)
  • epidemic disease(疫疠)
  • leprosy(麻风疠)
  • pestilential evil(疠邪)
  • wind pestilence(风疠)
  • pestilential toxin(疠毒)

Idioms

  • Pestilence spreads far and wide(疠气流行)
  • Warding off pestilential evils(避疠除邪)
  • Treating pestilential diseases(治疠疗疾)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In traditional Chinese medicine, 疠 refers to severe epidemic diseases with strong contagion.
  • The character appears in ancient medical texts describing various pestilential diseases.
  • Historically associated with leprosy and other feared contagious conditions.

FAQ