付之一炬 (fù zhī yī jù) — to commit to the flames; to burn down; to destr… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A literary idiom meaning to burn something completely — 'commit it to the flames' (documents, buildings, plans). More vivid and formal than plain 烧掉, and used for deliberate destruction, not accidental fire.

idiom

to commit to the flamesto burn downto destroy by fire

Examples

付之一炬。
Nà xiē jiù wén jiàn dōu bèi fù zhī yī jù le.
Those old documents were all committed to the flames.
付之一炬。
Yì chǎng dà huǒ bǎ zhěng zuò tú shū guǎn fù zhī yī jù.
A big fire reduced the entire library to ashes.
付之一炬，。
Tā jué dìng bǎ guò qù de jì huà fù zhī yī jù, chóng xīn kāi shǐ.
He decided to scrap his old plans and start over.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

亻人rénperson
又又yòuhand

付 pairs 亻 (person) with 又 (hand), showing a person handing something to someone.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

止止zhǐfoot
一一yīthe beginning place

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

火巨炬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

火火huǒfire

Sound part声符shēngfú

巨

巨jù炬jù

Same sound today

炬 has 火 on the left, showing fire, and 巨 on the right, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Idioms & Set Phrases

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