病 means “illness”

びょう · byou

Also: ill, sick

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

やむ, やまい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ビョウ, ヘイ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 3 · 10 strokes

The story

A figure laid out on a bed beneath the sickness radical (疒): illness as the body forced to rest. When 気 itself falls ill you get 病気, sickness: in Japanese, disease is a wound to the spirit.

Used in 病気 (byouki, illness), 病院 (byouin, hospital), and 急病 (kyuubyou, sudden illness)

More from Healing & Spirit

• 医 doctor
• 悪 bad
• 薬 medicine
• 弱 weak
• 気 spirit
• 元 origin
• 死 death

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