精神病
jīng shén bìng · HSK 7
disorder
🧠🤒 精神 = spirit/mind + 病 = illness, so a sickness of the mind
精神 means spirit or mental state, and 病 is the standard character for illness or disease (as in 生病, to fall ill). Stack them and you get an illness of the mind: a mental disorder or psychosis.
精 — rice 米 + blue/green 青 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 米 (rice) gives the meaning, while 青 supplies the sound. Originally referred to polished, refined rice — grain with the husk removed. The sense broadened to 'refined, pure, essence,' and later 'fine, skilled, spirit.'
神 — 示 (altar/spirit) + 申 (lightning, phonetic)
神 combines 示, depicting an altar associated with rituals and spirits, with 申, originally a pictograph of lightning streaking across the sky. Ancient people saw lightning as a manifestation of divine power, so 申 contributes both sound and the idea of awe-inspiring force. Together they mean 'spirit' or 'god'.
病 — sickness radical 疒 + 丙 (bǐng, phonetic)
病 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The radical 疒 depicts a person lying on a bed and signals illness or ailment. The component 丙 supplies the sound (bǐng → bìng). Originally 病 referred to a serious illness, contrasted with 疾 for a lighter ailment; today it broadly means 'sick' or 'disease.'