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火气 (huǒ qì) — anger, temper; (Traditional Chinese Medicine) internal heat (believed to cause symptoms like sore throat, acne, etc.)

Definition

Literally 'fire-qi', 火气 covers two unrelated senses: everyday 'anger, bad temper' (他有火气 = he's in a bad mood), and the TCM idea of 'internal heat' blamed for sore throat, acne, etc.

noun
angertemper(Traditional Chinese Medicine) internal heat (believed to cause symptoms like sore throat, acne, etc.)

Examples

  • 火气，。
    Tā zuì jìn huǒ qì hěn dà, dòng bu dòng jiù fā pí qi.
    He's been in a bad temper lately, losing his temper at the slightest thing.
  • ，火气。
    Nǐ liǎn shàng zhǎng dòu dou le, kě néng shì huǒ qì tài zhòng.
    You have pimples on your face; it might be too much internal heat.
  • ，火气。
    Bié rě tā, tā xiàn zài huǒ qì zhèng dà.
    Don't provoke him; he's in a bad mood right now.

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
气qìqi

火 is fire, and 气 is the inner heat or breath that flares into anger.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →
Appears in
Emotions & FeelingsTraditional Medicine & Philosophy

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