Definitions

fēng beacon fire

Etymology phono-semantic

fire

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 烽 is composed of the fire radical (火) on the left and the phonetic component 夆 on the right, a structure consistent in its traditional form. Its construction directly indicates its original meaning, which was a beacon fire lit on a high border watchtower to signal military alerts. Over time, the meaning extended from the specific signal fire itself to generally signify the concept of war or alarm, as seen in terms like 烽火.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

火用来传递消息。

Fēng huǒ yòng lái chuán dì xiāo xī.

Beacon fires were used to transmit messages.

古代战争常点火。

Gǔ dài zhàn zhēng cháng diǎn fēng huǒ.

Ancient wars often lit beacon fires.

山上的火台很古老。

Shān shàng de fēng huǒ tái hěn gǔ lǎo.

The beacon tower on the mountain is very old.

士兵们守卫着火台。

Shì bīng men shǒu wèi zhe fēng huǒ tái.

Soldiers guard the beacon tower.

烟升起时,人们就知道敌人来了。

Dāng fēng yān shēng qǐ shí, rén men jiù zhī dào dí rén lái le.

When beacon smoke rises, people know the enemy has arrived.

火照亮了黑暗的夜空。

Fēng huǒ zhào liàng le hēi àn de yè kōng.

Beacon fires illuminated the dark night sky.

如果火信号被误解,可能会导致严重的后果。

Rú guǒ fēng huǒ xìn hào bèi wù jiě, kě néng huì dǎo zhì yán zhòng de hòu guǒ.

If the beacon fire signal is misunderstood, it could lead to serious consequences.

火系统在古代通信中扮演了关键角色。

Fēng huǒ xì tǒng zài gǔ dài tōng xìn zhōng bàn yǎn le guān jiàn jué sè.

The beacon fire system played a key role in ancient communication.