熄

xī

息 + 火

Definitions

xī (verb) to extinguish; to put out (fire); to go out (of fire, lamp)

xī (verb) to die out; to come to an end; to wither away

Etymology

To end 息 a flame 火; 息 also provides the pronunciation

About

The character 熄 is formed from 火 'fire' on the left and 息 on the right, making it a phono-semantic compound. The 火 radical points to fire, while 息 (xī) gives the sound and also carries the sense of ceasing or resting. This semantic overlap reinforces the meaning: to end a fire. Thus, 熄 means to extinguish flames, put out lights, or stop something from burning.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

大火熄灭了。

Dà huǒ xīmiè le.

The big fire went out.

请熄灯睡觉。

Qǐng xī dēng shuìjiào.

Please turn off the lights and go to sleep.

发动机突然熄火了。

Fādòngjī tūrán xīhuǒ le.

The engine suddenly stalled.

蜡烛在风中熄灭了。

Làzhú zài fēng zhōng xīmiè le.

The candle went out in the wind.

停电后所有灯都熄了。

Tíngdiàn hòu suǒyǒu dēng dōu xī le.

After the power outage, all the lights went out.

森林大火被消防员熄灭了。

Sēnlín dàhuǒ bèi xiāofángyuán xīmiè le.

The forest fire was extinguished by the firefighters.

为了节约能源，我们熄掉了不必要的电器。

Wèile jiéyuē néngyuán, wǒmen xī diào le bù bìyào de diànqì.

To save energy, we turned off the unnecessary electrical appliances.

在紧急情况下，系统会自动熄火以防止事故。

Zài jǐnjí qíngkuàng xià, xìtǒng huì zìdòng xīhuǒ yǐ fángzhǐ shìgù.

In emergency situations, the system will automatically shut down to prevent accidents.

Related Characters

Component: 息

Component: 火

熄