疼

• Pinyin: téng
• Hanzi breakdown: 疼 = 疒 (sickness) + 冬 (winter, phonetic component)

Meaning

To hurt; to ache. Describes a physical sensation of pain.

Primarily describes physical pain: 头疼 (headache), 肚子疼 (stomachache), 腿疼 (leg pain). Can also express deep affection, as in 疼孩子 (to dote on a child). In northern China, 疼 is more commonly used for physical pain, while 痛 is preferred in the south, though both are widely understood.

Examples

1. 我今天头有点疼。 I have a bit of a headache today.
2. 他跑步跑得腿疼了。 His legs hurt from running.
3. 奶奶最疼我了。 Grandma dotes on me the most.

Usage Guide

Context: health, body, family affection

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 我的牙有点疼。(My tooth aches a bit.)
• 妈妈很疼她的孩子。(The mother dotes on her children.)

Don't Say

• 我心疼这个东西坏了 (Don't use 心疼 for trivially broken objects — 心疼 means to feel deeply pained about something valuable being wasted; use 可惜 for general regret)

Origin & History

The character 疼 combines 疒 (sickness radical) with 冬 (winter, phonetic). The sickness radical indicates it relates to physical discomfort.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal