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火灾 (huǒ zāi) — serious fire, conflagration (in a city, forest, etc.)

Definition

火灾 is a large, destructive fire (forest, city, building) — bigger and more serious than just 火. The measure word is 场.

noun
serious fireconflagration (in a city, forest, etc.)
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 火灾。
    Zhè chǎng huǒ zāi zào chéng le hěn dà de sǔn shī.
    This fire caused great losses.
  • 火灾。
    Sēn lín huǒ zāi xū yào lì kè pū miè.
    Forest fires need to be put out immediately.
  • 火灾。
    Liǎo jiě huǒ zāi de ān quán zhī shi hěn zhòng yào.
    It is very important to learn about fire safety.

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
灾zāidisaster

“火” suggests fire and “灾” suggests disaster, together naming a fire disaster.

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 災; 灾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡿧
𡿧𡿧災zāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 災 combines 火 (fire) with 𡿧, an old picture of flowing water that supplied the sound; the simplified 灾 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 灾 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Safety & Danger5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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