How to Write 蜱 (pí) — Meaning “Tick”

Think of a tick as a lowly insect: 虫 (insect) plus 卑 (lowly, humble). Picture a tick crawling low to the ground on an animal. The word 'lowly' helps you recall both the shape and meaning.

Pay attention to the stroke order on the right side: 卑 starts with a left-falling stroke, then a vertical stroke, and ends with a horizontal stroke at the bottom. A common mistake is making the right side too wide, so keep 卑 narrow to balance the left 虫.

The right side of 蜱 is 卑, while 蛐 has 出 on the right and means cricket, and 蛑 has 牟 on the right and refers to a type of crab. All share the insect radical 虫, but their right parts change the meaning and pronunciation.

蜱 appears mainly in medical and biological terms, such as 蜱虫 (tick) and 防蜱 (tick prevention). It is not common in daily talk but shows up in health advice about tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease, especially in rural or forest areas.

Common words containing 蜱 include: 蜱虫 (pí chóng) — Tick; 蜱螨 (pí mǎn) — Ticks and mites; 防蜱 (fáng pí) — Tick prevention..