How to Write 疥 (jiè) — Meaning “scabies”

Picture the radical 疒 as a sick bed, and then imagine tiny mites (like the 介 shell or armor shape) crawling all over that bed. The 介 looks like a shell or a little bug with a head and legs, which helps you remember scabies is caused by mites.

The left radical 疒 has three strokes: dot, horizontal left-falling, then left-falling and dot — make sure the last two strokes (left-falling and dot) are clear and not connected. The right part 介 must be written with a "person" shape on top (撇捺) and two vertical strokes below; avoid making the top too wide or the bottom strokes too short.

疥 means scabies, a contagious skin disease with itching; 疔 refers to a small, hard boil or deep-rooted sore (like a furuncle), and 疖 means a superficial boil or pimple. Visually, 疥 has 介 on the right, 疔 has 丁 (a nail/stick shape), and 疖 has 卩 (a seal knot). They all share the sickness radical, but the right parts indicate different skin problems.

疥 appears mostly in medical contexts, especially in the term 疥疮 (jiè chuāng) for scabies. You might also see it in 疥癣 (jiè xuǎn) as a general term for skin infections, or in 疥虫 (jiè chóng) referring to the scabies mite. It is not a common daily character for most learners, but it's important for health or veterinary vocabulary.

Common words containing 疥 include: 疥疮 (jiè chuāng) — scabies; 疥癣 (jiè xuǎn) — scabies and ringworm; 疥虫 (jiè chóng) — scabies mite.