无烟 (wú yān) — smoke-free (no smoking allowed); smokeless (producing little or no smoke)

Definition

无烟 (wú yān) means 'smoke-free' — used both for places where smoking is banned (无烟餐厅) and for fuels that burn with little smoke (无烟煤).

adjective
smoke-free (no smoking allowed)smokeless (producing little or no smoke)

Examples

  • 无烟，。
    Zhè jiā cān tīng shì wú yān cān tīng, qǐng wù xī yān.
    This restaurant is a smoke-free restaurant; please do not smoke.
  • 。
    wú yān Méi rán shāo shí chǎn shēng de yǒu hài qì tǐ hěn shǎo.
    Smokeless coal produces very little harmful gas when burned.
  • 无烟。
    Hěn duō gōng gòng chǎng suǒ dōu shè lì le wú yān qū.
    Many public places have set up smoke-free zones.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

无wúwithout
烟yānsmoke

无 means without, and 烟 is smoke, so it means without smoke.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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 煙; 烟 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 烟 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (烟) it is 煙; in others it is 菸.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
垔
垔yīn煙yān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

This story is about the traditional form 煙, not the simplified 烟. It pairs 火, fire, with 垔, which gives the sound.

Open 烟 →

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