疫 means “epidemic, plague”

えき · eki

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

エキ, ヤク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

Sickness (疒) swinging a club (殳): a disease that strikes down a whole town. 疫 is epidemic: 免疫 is immunity, 検疫 is the quarantine check at airports and ports, and a 疫病神, a plague god, is a jinx.

Used in 免疫 (men'eki, immunity), 検疫 (ken'eki, quarantine), and 疫病 (ekibyou, epidemic/plague)

More from Sickness & Cures

• 癒 heal
• 尿 urine
• 吐 vomit
• 痕 scar
• 痢 diarrhea
• 腫 swell
• 痘 pox
• 瘍 ulcer
• 唾 saliva
• 梗 blockage
• 痩 get thin
• 健 healthy

Learn 疫 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.