殃

Misfortune or calamity. Often denotes a resultant disaster or a consequence of prior actions, carrying a causal or retributive quality.

• Noun: A disaster, calamity, or misfortune.
• Verb/Verbal Adjective: To bring misfortune upon; to affect with calamity (e.g., 殃及, where the disaster "reaches" associated parties).

Compared to similar terms:

• 災: Generally denotes sudden natural disasters or acts of heaven.
• 禍: Often implies a more sinister, sudden, or active "evil" event.
• 患: An affliction, chronic worry, or lingering problem.

Semantic variant: U+4103.

Contains the sickness radical (疒), suggesting an affliction or scourge. The component 央 serves as the phonetic.

When choosing a translation, determine if the context implies a "reaping" or inherited affliction (e.g., “scourge,” “retribution”) rather than a random catastrophe.