邪 (xié) — evil, wicked, demonic; (coll.) strange, abnormal, weird; (Chinese medicine) pathogenic factor; harmful influence that causes disease
Definition
邪 (xié) covers both senses here: 'evil, demonic' (formal, like 邪恶) and the colloquial 'strange, weird' (like 怪 but more emphatic). The TCM sense 'pathogenic factor' appears in phrases like 邪气.
adjective
evilwickeddemonic(coll.) strangeabnormalweird(Chinese medicine) pathogenic factorharmful influence that causes disease
Examples
- 邪。Zhè ge cūn zi liú chuán zhe xié shén de chuán shuō.This village has a legend of an evil god.
- ，邪？Nǐ zuì jìn liǎn sè bú tài hǎo, shì bu shì zhāo le xié qì?You haven't been looking well lately — did you catch some bad energy?
- 邪，。Tā jīn tiān de biǎo xiàn zhēn xié, hé píng cháng wán quán bù yí yàng.His behavior today was really strange, totally unlike usual.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
邪 puts 牙 beside 邑 (town; city): 牙 gives the sound, and 邑 shows it was first used in a place name. It was later used for strange or evil meanings.
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