症

2 readings · tap one to hear it

disease; illness

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

疒 meaning “sickness” + 正 sound ( zhèng )

Components 疒正

disease · Heisig RSH #2660

sickness + 正 correct

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
高山症	gāo shān zhèng	altitude sickness; acute mountain sickness
白化症	bái huà zhèng	albinism
不治之症	bù zhì zhī zhèng	incurable disease
多动症	duō dòng zhèng	(coll.) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
成骨不全症	chéng gǔ bù quán zhèng	osteogenesis imperfecta (OI); brittle bone disease
神经症	shén jīng zhèng	neurosis
手足口症	shǒu zú kǒu zhèng	human hand foot and mouth disease, a viral infection
无精症	wú jīng zhèng	azoospermia (medicine)
多发性硬化症	duō fā xìng yìng huà zhèng	multiple sclerosis
干眼症	gān yǎn zhèng	(medicine) xerophthalmia; dry eye syndrome
眼干症	yǎn gān zhèng	(medicine) xerophthalmia; dry eye syndrome
重症	zhòng zhèng	acute (of medical condition); grave
病症	bìng zhèng	disease; illness
对症下药	duì zhèng xià yào	lit. to prescribe the right medicine for an illness (idiom); fig. to study a problem to fi…
神经官能症	shén jīng guān néng zhèng	neurosis
失语症	shī yǔ zhèng	aphasia or aphemia (loss of language)
病毒血症	bìng dú xuè zhèng	viremia
注意力不足过动症	zhù yì lì bù zú guò dòng zhèng	attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
失明症	shī míng zhèng	blindness
精神官能症	jīng shén guān néng zhèng	neurosis

Characters sharing the sound component 正 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
正 sound part	zhèng	straight, right, proper, correct, just, true
政	zhèng	government, politics
征	zhēng	to summon, to recruit; levy, tax; journey; invasion
整	zhěng	neat, orderly, whole; to repair, to mend
怔	zhēng	frightened, startled, terrified
罡	gāng	the stars at the end of the Big Dipper
徵	zhǐ	to summon, to recruit; levy, tax; journey; invasion
钲	zhēng	an army's marching gong