Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 大流行病 | dà liúxíngbìng |
| 瘟疫 | wēnyì |
The primary term for a disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population is 大流行病. In news headlines and media, you may see the shortened form 大流行 used to refer to the pandemic phenomenon. To refer more generally to an epidemic or an infectious disease, you can use 流行病 by removing the prefix for 'large'. Additionally, the formal term 疫情 can be used to specifically mean an 'epidemic situation'.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 大流行病 is composed of 大 (large), 流行 (prevalent/spreading) and 病 (disease).
Which one should you use?
While 大流行病 is the modern technical term for a pandemic, 瘟疫 carries a more classical, dramatic and often more ominous connotation, similar to 'plague' or 'pestilence'.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
dà liúxíngbìng
Did you know?
- The word 流行 in 大流行病 also means 'trendy' or 'fashionable' when used to describe clothes or music. In this context, it refers to something that is 'spreading' through popular culture.
- The character 瘟 in 瘟疫 contains the radical for 'sickness' 疒, which is a visual marker shared by almost all Chinese words related to illness and disease.
- While 瘟疫 translates to 'plague', it is often used in Chinese idioms to describe anything that spreads rapidly and destructively, even non-biological disasters.
Examples in context
- 最近的疫情引起了全球的关注。The recent pandemic has attracted global attention.
- 你听说了吗？最近有个很严重的流行病。Have you heard? There's a serious pandemic recently.
- 这次大流行病影响了全球。Zhè cì dà liú xíng bìng yǐng xiǎng le quán qiú.This pandemic affected the whole world.
- 我们要预防大流行病。Wǒ men yào yù fáng dà liú xíng bìng.We need to prevent a pandemic.
- 政府正在应对这场大流行病。Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài yìng duì zhè chǎng dà liú xíng bìng.The government is responding to this pandemic.
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing news about a recent health crisis.
- 佳怡 Jiayi志强，你看到关于那场大流行病的新闻了吗？Zhì qiáng, nǐ kàn dào guān yú nà chǎng dà liú xíng bìng de xīn wén le ma?Zhiqiang, did you see the news about that pandemic?
- 志强 Zhiqiang看到了，情况看起来很严重。Kàn dào le, qíng kuàng kàn qǐ lái hěn yán zhòng.I saw it, the situation looks very serious.
- 佳怡 Jiayi是的，大家都非常担心。Shì de, dà jiā dōu fēi cháng dān xīn.Yes, everyone is very worried.
- 志强 Zhiqiang我们应该做好防护措施。Wǒ men yīng gāi zuò hǎo fáng hù cuò shī.We should take protective measures.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pandemic” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
