疫 (yì) — an epidemic, plague, contagious disease

entries → 疫

TSUMUGU · TOCFL B2 (est.) · 字

疫 character · TOCFL B2 (est.)

疫＝疒＋役

ㄧˋ · yì

noun — an epidemic, plague, contagious disease

字源 FORM — what the parts do

疒義sickness — a person on a bed

役聲yì — gives the soundexact; the same 役 as in 勞役

Sickness (疒) that runs through a whole people — an epidemic. 役 yì carries the sound, exact and unchanged, the same 役 as in forced labour. The word lives in 瘟疫, 鼠疫, and the guarding against it, 防疫.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

病（疒）像差役挨家驅趕，一村一村倒下去——疫。

Sickness (疒) drives door to door like a press-gang, and village after village falls — a plague.

字源記憶法

意 · Meanings

(本義)瘟疫— an epidemic, plague常用

→防疫、疫苗— to guard against plague; vaccine常用

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension