How to Write 蛔 (huí) — Meaning “roundworm”

Imagine a worm (虫) that curls into a perfect circle (回) — that is exactly what a roundworm does inside the body. The shape of 回 reminds you of a roundworm coiling up, and the sound huí matches the 'hui' in 'hui chong' (roundworm).

Pay attention to the proportion: the left radical 虫 should be slightly narrower than the right component 回. A common mistake is making the 回 too wide or forgetting that the outer box of 回 fully encloses the inner 口. Also, the final stroke of 虫 is a lift (提), not a horizontal line.

蛔 specifically means 'roundworm' (an intestinal parasite) and contains 回, which looks like a circle. 蚊 means 'mosquito' and has 文 (wén) as its phonetic part. 蚋 means 'gnat' or 'small biting fly' and has 内 (nèi) inside. Visually, the inner part of each character is the easiest clue.

蛔 is almost always seen in medical terms like 蛔虫 (roundworm) and 蛔虫药 (deworming medicine). It is not a common daily character, but it appears in discussions of intestinal parasites. Culturally, roundworm infections were once widespread in rural China, so the character is familiar from public health campaigns and traditional medicine.

Common words containing 蛔 include: 蛔虫 (huí chóng) — roundworm; 蛔虫药 (huí chóng yào) — deworming medicine; 治蛔虫 (zhì huí chóng) — To treat roundworms.