Definitions
hydrocarbon
Etymology phono-semantic
fire
Semantic:
火
About
The character "烃", whose traditional form is "烴", was coined in the late 19th or early 20th century as a new term for "hydrocarbon" in scientific translation. It is structured as a phono-semantic compound, with the radical "火" denoting fire or combustion, and the component "巠" serving as a phonetic indicator for the pronunciation "jīng". This character has specifically designated chemical compounds composed solely of hydrogen and carbon atoms from its inception.