火化 (huǒ huà) — to cremate

Definition

verb
to cremate
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，火化。
    Tā qù shì hòu, jiā rén jué dìng jiāng tā huǒ huà.
    After he passed away, the family decided to cremate him.
  • 火化。
    Xiàn zài yuè lái yuè duō de rén xuǎn zé huǒ huà ér bú shì tǔ zàng.
    Now more and more people choose cremation over burial.
  • 火化。
    Zhè ge chéng shì zhǐ yǒu yì jiā huǒ huà chǎng.
    This city only has one crematorium.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

火huǒfire
化huàtransform

The “火” fire and “化” transform give the sense of transforming by fire.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →

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