炉火 (lú huǒ) — stove fire; furnace fire

Definition

Literally 'stove fire / furnace fire' — used mostly in the set phrase 炉火纯青, meaning a skill has reached its peak. The examples in this row all use it literally, but the idiomatic use is the one to remember.

noun
stove firefurnace fire

Examples

  • 炉火
    Dōng tiān wǒ men yòng lú huǒ qǔ nuǎn.
    In winter we use the stove fire to keep warm.
  • 炉火
    Chú shī bǎ cài fàng zài lú huǒ shàng kǎo.
    The chef put the dish on the stove fire to roast.
  • Jīng guò duō nián liàn xí, tā de shū fǎ yǐ jīng lú huǒ chún qīng le.
    After years of practice, his calligraphy has reached the highest level.

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.

stove

炉 names the stove and 火 the flame, together meaning stove fire.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

The older form combines 火 (fire) with 盧 (lú) for its sound; the modern 炉 is a later shorthand.

Open 炉 →

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 →
Appears in

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