How to Write 瘃 (zhú) — Meaning “chilblain”

Picture a foot (足) covered in painful red bumps inside a sickness box (疒) — that is a chilblain. The pinyin zhú sounds like "jewel" but with a cold "zh" — think of a frozen toe jewel, a chilblain.

The left side 疒 must be written with the dot first, then the horizontal stroke, then the two strokes inside. The right part 足 has a clear vertical line connecting the mouth and the feet strokes — do not separate them too far.

瘃 specifically means chilblain from cold, while 疵 means a flaw or blemish, and 痊 means recovery from illness. Visually, 疵 has the radical 疒 with 此 (ci) inside, and 痊 has 疒 with 全 (quan, complete) inside — only 瘃 contains 足 (foot).

瘃 is rarely used alone; it appears in words like 冻瘃 (frostbite) and 瘃子 (chilblain). It is a technical term for cold-induced skin injuries, especially in medical or northern dialect contexts.

Common words containing 瘃 include: 瘃子 (zhú zi) — chilblain; 冻瘃 (dòng zhú) — frostbite; 瘃疮 (zhú chuāng) — chilblain; frostbite sore.