痉

痙
jìng
noun #50,854

Meanings

  1. 1 spasm
  2. 2 convulsion

Examples

HSK 5
Tā de tuǐ tūrán chōu jìng.
His leg suddenly cramped up.
HSK 6
Bìngrén chūxiàn le jīròu jìngluán.
The patient developed muscle spasms.

Tips

usage
Almost always appears in compounds: 痉挛 (spasm/convulsion), 抽痉 (to cramp), 热痉 (heat cramps). Standalone use is rare in modern Chinese.
memory
Sickness radical 疒 + 巠 - a sick body part being pulled tight; 巠 also gives the pronunciation.

Components

radical
疒 nè
sickness (radical)
Upper-left sickness radical - a person lying on a bed tipped sideways. It indexes 痉 in the medical-symptom family alongside 病 illness, 疼 ache, 疫 epidemic, 疯 mad. Marks the whole character as a bodily malady.
phonetic
巠 jīng
underground watercourse
Inside is a 5-stroke contracted form of 巠 - the standalone glyph has 7 strokes, here squeezed into a tighter shape. Supplies the sound jīng then jìng with tone shift only. Same phonetic family: 经 to pass through, 颈 neck, 径 path, 茎 stem.

Stroke Order

痉 jìng