痢

A disease-character denoting serious intestinal infection, especially dysentery.

A phono-semantic compound:

疒 (disease; illness) — semantic component

利 (리) — phonetic component

The 疒 radical clearly marks the character as related to illness or disease, while 利 supplies the pronunciation.

The character historically referred to acute intestinal disorders, especially those causing frequent and painful bowel movements.

痢疾 (이질) — dysentery

赤痢 (적리) — bacillary dysentery

白痢 (백리) — non-bloody dysentery

痢症 (리증) — dysenteric illness (medical/literary)

傳染性痢疾 (전염성이질) — infectious dysentery

The character is strongly clinical and rarely used metaphorically.

Historically common during periods of poor sanitation, war, or famine.

Closely associated with traditional East Asian medical theory.

Medical and semantic notes:

In modern Korean, 痢 almost always appears in compound nouns, especially 痢疾.

In modern Chinese, 痢 is still used medically but often specified further (e.g., 細菌性痢疾, bacterial dysentery).

In Japanese, 痢 (り, ri) is mainly used in medical or historical contexts; everyday speech prefers descriptive terms.

Classical citations:

《黃帝內經》 (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic)

「濕熱不除，則成痢疾。」

“If damp-heat is not eliminated, it develops into dysentery.”

《本草綱目》 (Compendium of Materia Medica)

「赤白痢，皆由腸胃濕熱所致。」

“Red and white dysentery are both caused by damp-heat in the intestines and stomach.”

In classical Chinese medicine texts, 痢 is closely associated with 습열(濕熱, damp-heat) and internal imbalance.