薰 (xūn) — fragrance (bound form, in compounds like 薰衣草 'lavender', 薰香 'incense'); to fumigate, to smoke (bound form, in compounds like 薰蚊子 'to smoke out mosquitoes')
Definition
A bound (书面) morph that appears mainly in compounds like 薰衣草 (lavender) and 薰香 (incense). On its own it means 'fragrance' or 'to fumigate/smoke' — rarely used as a standalone word.
bound form
fragrance (bound form, in compounds like 薰衣草 'lavender', 薰香 'incense')to fumigateto smoke (bound form, in compounds like 薰蚊子 'to smoke out mosquitoes')
Examples
- 薰。Wǒ xǐ huan xūn yī cǎo de xiāng wèi.I like the fragrance of lavender.
- 。Tā zài fáng jiān lǐ diǎn le xūn xiāng.She lit incense in the room.
- 薰。Xià tiān hěn duō rén yòng wén xiāng lái xūn wén zi.In summer, many people use mosquito coils to smoke out mosquitoes.
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.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎo
薰 combines 艸, a plant form, with 熏, which gives the sound.
Appears in
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