Refers to the condition of being deaf. Often used in medical or formal contexts. In everyday speech, 難聴 (なんちょう) or 耳が聞こえない may be more common.
He has been deaf since birth and uses sign language.
There are special schools for the deaf.
deafness · deaf-mutism; deaf-mute person
total deafness; complete hearing loss
deafblindness; deaf-blind person
deafblindness; deaf-blind person
deafen; make deaf
Standard kanji spelling for deafness.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji is considered difficult or obscure.
The kanji 聾 is a phono-semantic compound: 耳 (ear) + 龍 (dragon, used phonetically for ろう). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the character has been used to represent deafness.