About
炔 is a phono-semantic compound combining the fire radical 火 on the left with the phonetic 夬 on the right. It originally had obscure senses related to the appearance of fire or smoke, but its contemporary use is almost entirely in chemical nomenclature. Assigned the pronunciation quē, it denotes an alkyne, an unsaturated hydrocarbon containing at least one carbon-carbon triple bond. The fire radical hints at these compounds' combustibility, while the phonetic 夬 was chosen as part of a systematic translation of Western chemical terms into Chinese.
Etymology Hide
Example Words
Report an issue
Flag incorrect definitions, examples, etymology, etc.