病

bìng

丙 + 疒

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

bìng (noun) illness; disease

bìng (verb) to fall ill

bìng (noun) defect; flaw

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 疒 represents the meaning and 丙 represents the sound.

Semantic: 疒 Phonetic: 丙

About

The character 病 is a phono-semantic compound: the radical 疒, a pictograph of a sick person leaning on a bed, conveys the idea of illness, while the component 丙 provides the sound. In its earliest known uses, the graph referred narrowly to grave, often life-threatening diseases. Over time, it came to designate all kinds of sickness and medical conditions. Eventually, it underwent metaphorical extension, coming to signify faults, flaws, or defects in human conduct, objects, or systems, thereby shifting from the domain of physical health to a wide spectrum of negative states and imperfections.

Etymology Hide

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

他生病了。

Tā shēngbìng le.

He is sick.

她是医院的病人。

Tā shì yīyuàn de bìngrén.

She is a patient at the hospital.

妈妈要去医院看病。

Māmā yào qù yīyuàn kànbìng.

Mom needs to go to the hospital to see a doctor.

感冒是一种常见病。

Gǎnmào shì yī zhǒng chángjiàn bìng.

The common cold is a frequent illness.

病人住在三零一病房。

Bìngrén zhù zài sān líng yī bìngfáng.

The patient is staying in room 301.

他因为生病请了病假。

Tā yīnwèi shēngbìng qǐng le bìngjià.

He took sick leave because he is ill.

爷爷有心脏病，要注意休息。

Yéye yǒu xīnzàngbìng, yào zhùyì xiūxi.

Grandpa has heart disease and needs to pay attention to resting.

这种病的主要症状是发烧和咳嗽。

Zhè zhǒng bìng de zhǔyào zhèngzhuàng shì fāshāo hé késòu.

The main symptoms of this illness are fever and cough.

Related Characters

Component: 丙

Component: 疒

病