How to Write 疫 (yì) — Meaning “epidemic”

Picture the radical 疒 (illness) as a person lying sick in bed, and the right part 殳 as a spear or weapon stabbing into them. This image reminds you that an epidemic is like an illness that forcefully attacks people.

Start by writing the radical 疒: dot, horizontal, left‑falling stroke, then dot, and finally a short upward stroke. The right part 殳 has four strokes: a short left‑falling, a horizontal curve, a vertical hook, and a long downward right‑falling stroke (捺). A common mistake is making the left radical too wide or forgetting the dot inside 疒.

All three have the illness radical 疒, but 疫 means "epidemic" (a widespread disease), while 疔 means a deep boil or furuncle, and 疖 means a small skin boil. Visually, 疫 has a complex right side 殳, whereas 疔 has 丁 (like a nail) and 疖 has 卩 (like a seal knot).

疫 appears in important words like 疫情 (yì qíng, epidemic situation) and 疫苗 (yì miáo, vaccine). It is the standard term for a large‑scale contagious disease, such as during the COVID‑19 pandemic when 疫情 was used daily in the news. The related word 免疫 (miǎn yì, immunity) shows how 疫 also appears in medical and scientific contexts.

Common words containing 疫 include: 疫苗 (yì miáo) — vaccine; 疫情 (yì qíng) — epidemic situation; 免疫 (miǎn yì) — immunity, immune.