病 (bìng) — illness, disease; to be ill, to fall ill

病 is the basic noun 'illness/disease' and can also be used as a verb meaning 'to be ill'. For everyday speech, speakers usually say 生病 to mean 'get sick'; 病 on its own often appears in compounds like 病人 (patient) or 疾病 (formal 'disease').

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

病 pairs 疒, a sickness mark, with 丙, which gives the sound; 丙 also means fire, giving a picture of lying feverishly in bed.