About
The character "炊" has consistently represented the act of cooking with fire since its earliest forms. Its structure is a straightforward semantic-phonetic composition, combining the radical 火 (huǒ), meaning fire, with the component 欠 (qiàn), which originally depicted a person kneeling or bending and here primarily serves a phonetic function. While the fundamental meaning of "to cook food" or "to prepare a meal" has remained stable, its application has refined over time, now almost exclusively referring to the specific method of boiling or steaming grains, particularly rice, rather than general fire management or other types of food preparation. This specialization reflects the centrality of grain-based meals in the culture, with the character vividly encapsulating the essential process of applying fire to transform raw sustenance.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
厨房里有炊具。
炊烟从屋顶升起。
他负责每天的炊事。
学会炊饭是一项基本技能。
在没有电的年代，人们用柴火炊煮。
现代炊具让炊事变得更加便捷。
炊烟袅袅升起，预示着晚餐时间到了。
在野外露营时，我们需要自行炊煮食物。