How to Write 瘤 (liú) — Meaning “tumor; growth”

Imagine that a sickness (疒) stays (留) in one place and forms a lump. You can think of the phrase "a sickness that stays and becomes a tumor." The sound of 留 (liú) also matches the pinyin of 瘤, which helps with pronunciation.

The radical 疒 has five strokes: dot, horizontal, left-falling, dot, and a horizontal with a lift. The right part 留 starts with a short top stroke, then 卯 (a left-falling and vertical hook), and ends with 田. A common mistake is to confuse the top of 留 with 卯 and write a missing hook or extra dot.

瘤 (tumor) uses the radical 疒 plus 留, while 痰 (phlegm) combines 疒 with 炎 (flame), and 痱 (prickly heat) combines 疒 with 非 (wrong). Visually, 瘤 has a more complex right side with 田 at the bottom, whereas 痰 has 炎 (two fires) and 痱 has 非 (two wings). In meaning, 瘤 refers to an abnormal growth, 痰 refers to mucus, and 痱 refers to a skin rash.

瘤 is most commonly used in medical terms like 肿瘤 (tumor) and 肉瘤 (sarcoma). It is not a common daily word for beginners but appears in health discussions. In traditional Chinese medicine, tumors are often linked to stagnant qi or phlegm accumulation, reflecting the character's combination of sickness and staying.

Common words containing 瘤 include: 肿瘤 (zhǒng liú) — Tumor; 肉瘤 (ròu liú) — sarcoma / tumor; 瘤子 (liú zi) — tumor; lump.