癘 meaning and stroke order
Sore, ulcer; plague, pestilence
How to write 癘, stroke by stroke
18 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
Meaning of 癘
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- ulcer
- plague
How 癘 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Ten thousand 萬 sick people 疒.
Radical: 疒 (sickness), shared by 127 characters on this site.
How to remember 癘
Under the sickness radical 疒 sit ten thousand 萬 (wàn) people. When ten thousand people are sick at once, you have a plague, which is what 癘 (lì) means.
癘 is a literary and classical character. It appears in old texts and set phrases about epidemics, like 疫癘 (yìlì, pestilence). Example: 古時疫癘流行。(Gǔshí yìlì liúxíng.) In ancient times, plagues spread widely.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 癘 with 厲 (lì, severe), which sounds the same and has a similar shape. 厲 is written with 厂, while 癘 uses the sickness radical 疒 to show disease. In simplified Chinese 癘 becomes 疠, so do not write it as 厉.
Questions about 癘
How many strokes are in 癘?
癘 is written with 18 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 癘 mean?
癘 (lì) means sore, ulcer; plague, pestilence.
How do you pronounce 癘?
癘 is pronounced lì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 癘?
The radical of 癘 is 疒, which carries the idea of "sickness". Dictionaries list 癘 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 癘?
癘 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 疠, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 癘 used in modern spoken Chinese?
Rarely. Everyday speech uses 瘟疫 (wēnyì) or 传染病 (chuánrǎnbìng) for epidemics. 癘 mostly shows up in classical texts, traditional medicine, and formal writing.
What does 癘 mean in Chinese medicine?
In traditional Chinese medicine, 癘氣 (lìqì) refers to a pestilent or epidemic qi, an outside force thought to cause contagious disease. You may see it in TCM books about infectious illness.