疾 jí sickness

源How it came to be

A person with an arrow going into them. Illness arrives the way an arrow does, suddenly and from outside, which is also why the same character means fast.

用How it is used

• Bound, literary-register word for illness - 疾病 (jíbìng) "disease" sounds more formal/written than plain 病.
• 残疾 (cánjí) "disabled/disability" is the standard neutral term used in official and medical contexts.
• Also carries a separate literary sense of "fast", as in 疾走 (jízǒu) "to walk swiftly", though this is rare outside classical-flavored writing.
• Doesn't stand alone as a verb meaning "to be sick" - for that use 生病 or 病了.

字Characters built with 疾

• 嫉 jealous

词Words with 疾

• 疾病jíbìngdiseaseHSK 5
• 残疾cánjídisabledHSK 6