疫

Compound ideograph:

疒 (“sickness, disease”) — semantic element, indicates illness or disorder.

殳 (“weapon, strike”) — complementary element, suggests striking or attacking.

Together, they depict a disease that attacks people violently — hence, “epidemic disease.”

The combination expresses the idea of an illness that spreads or strikes swiftly and forcefully, like a weapon.

傳染病 (전염병) — infectious disease

瘟疫 (온역) — plague, pestilence

防疫 (방역) — epidemic prevention

抗疫 (항역) — to fight an epidemic

檢疫 (검역) — quarantine, inspection for disease

疫情 (역정) — epidemic situation; current outbreak status

疫苗 (역묘) — vaccine (lit. “epidemic seed”)

疫區 (역구) — epidemic area, infected zone

In ancient Chinese medicine epidemics were explained through the concept of 邪氣 (xieqi, pernicious energy) — specifically 疫氣, the “miasma of pestilence.”

Rites and offerings to deities like 疫神 were performed to ward off these spirits.

Шт modern terminology generalized to any infectious disease or epidemic event. The character remains widely used in modern medical and governmental contexts:

防疫站 (방역소) — quarantine or epidemic-prevention center.

抗疫戰 (항역전) — “the war against epidemics.”

《左傳》: 「夏，大疫。」

“In summer, a great epidemic occurred.”

《禮記》: 「歲有凶穀，曰饑；有疾，曰疫。」

“When the year brings poor harvest, it is called famine; when disease spreads, it is called epidemic.”