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燠 is a phono-semantic compound character: the fire radical 火 (huǒ) on the left places it in the semantic field of heat, while the right-hand component 奥 (ào) hints at the sound. Historically, its primary meaning is intense warmth, and it is often found in classical meteorological and agricultural writings describing extremely hot or sultry weather. While its core meaning of heat persists, today the character is largely confined to formal, literary, or classical contexts, serving as an elevated and now rather archaic term for sweltering temperatures, rather than being used in everyday speech.
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