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起火 (qǐ huǒ) — to catch fire; to be on fire; to start a fire (for cooking); to get angry; to lose one's temper

Definition

Literal meaning is 'to catch fire' (a building, kitchen, etc.). Colloquially also used for 'to flare up in anger' — much more vivid and physical than 生气.

verb
to catch fireto be on fireto start a fire (for cooking)to get angryto lose one's temper

Examples

  • 起火，！
    Chú fáng bù xiǎo xīn qǐ huǒ le, kuài jiào xiāo fáng chē!
    The kitchen accidentally caught fire — call the fire truck!
  • 起火。
    Tā tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi hòu lì kè qǐ huǒ le.
    He immediately got angry after hearing this news.
  • 。
    Zuó wǎn nà dòng lóu qǐ le yì chǎng dà huǒ.
    A big fire broke out in that building last night.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

起qǐstart
火huǒfire

“起” conveys starting or rising and “火” is fire, so the word pictures fire starting or catching.

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

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
Safety & Danger

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