炎症

• Reading: えんしょう
• Romaji: enshou
• Kanji breakdown: 炎 (en) — flame, inflammation; 症 (shou) — symptom, condition
• Pronunciation: /eɴ.ɕoː/

Meaning

Inflammation; irritation. A medical condition where part of the body becomes red, swollen, and painful.

A noun used in medical and everyday contexts to describe the body's inflammatory response to injury, infection, or irritation. Often appears in compound phrases like 炎症を起こす (to become inflamed) and 炎症を抑える (to reduce inflammation). Common in doctor-patient conversations and health articles.

Examples

1. 喉に炎症が起きているので、しばらく声を出さないでください。 Your throat is inflamed, so please don't use your voice for a while.
2. 薬を塗ったら、皮膚の炎症がだいぶ治まった。 After applying the medicine, the inflammation on my skin settled down quite a bit.
3. 膝の炎症がひどくて、階段を上るのがつらい。 The inflammation in my knee is so bad that it's painful to climb stairs.

Usage Guide

Context: medical, health, daily life

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

From Sino-Japanese: 炎 (en, flame/inflammation) + 症 (shou, symptom/condition). The character 炎 depicts two fires stacked, evoking the heat and redness of inflamed tissue.

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal