灭

滅

miè

HSK 3.0 6

Rank #953

Definitions

miè (verb) to extinguish; to put out

miè (verb) to destroy; to eliminate

Etymology

Depicts putting a cover over a fire (火) to smother it. Simplified from 滅.

About

The character for "extinguish" or "destroy" is represented traditionally as 滅, a form composed of the water radical 氵 combined with 烕, a component associated with cessation, thereby conceptually linking the act of putting out flames with water. Its simplified counterpart, 灭, alters this structure by placing a horizontal line 一 above the fire radical 火, creating a more pictorial representation of covering or smothering a fire to achieve the same effect. While the essential meaning of causing something to cease has persisted throughout its use, the character's application has expanded from purely physical contexts like dousing flames to include metaphorical extinctions, such as the wiping out of ideas or populations. This evolution in form, from a water-based to a cover-based ideograph, demonstrates a shift towards visual simplicity without departing from the core notion of termination.