祸 (huò) — misfortune, disaster, calamity
Definition
祸 (huò) is a literary noun for 'disaster, calamity' — usually bad events seen as fated or large-scale (e.g. 车祸, 大祸), not small everyday mishaps.
noun
misfortunedisastercalamity
Easily confused
- 锅guōlook-alikepot; pan; wok; cauldron
- 或huòsound-alike(conjunction) or (used to link alternatives)
- 蜗wōlook-alike(bound form) snail (used in compounds such as 蜗牛 and 蜗居)
- 货huòsound-alikegoods, merchandise
- 祝zhùlook-aliketo wish (someone something good)
- 获huòsound-alike(bound form) to reap, to harvest, to gather in
Examples
- 。Zhè chǎng hóng shuǐ gěi dāng dì dài lái le jù dà de zāi huò.This flood brought great disaster to the area.
- ，。Tā yīn wèi yì shí shū hu, niàng chéng le dà huò.Because of a moment's negligence, he caused a great calamity.
- ，。Tiān jiàng dà huò, bǎi xìng liú lí shī suǒ.A great disaster fell from heaven, and the people were displaced.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 禍; 祸 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi禍huò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The simplified 祸 is an abbreviation of traditional 禍, which pairs 示 (sacrifice) with 咼 to show pronunciation.
Appears in
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