火 (huǒ) means "fire" with radical 火 (fire), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: fire
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
The oracle-bone form of 火 is a clear pictograph of rising flames, drawn as a central vertical stroke flanked by two shorter upward strokes suggesting tongues of fire. Bronze inscriptions retain this three-pronged shape, often with a rounded base representing the body of the fire. It is one of the most transparent pictographs in the script, visually almost identical to 山 in some early forms but distinguished by sharper, licking outer strokes.
Form evolution
The three-flame shape stabilised in bronze script and became more symmetrical in small seal (篆书), where the central flame lengthens and the side strokes curve outward. Clerical script (隶书) flattened the curves into the four-stroke form we see today, with two dots replacing the outer flames and a 人-like base. The modern 楷书 form preserves this four-stroke structure exactly. When used as a component at the bottom of a character, it is compressed to the four-dot radical 灬 (as in 热, 煮).
How the meaning evolved
The original sense was literal fire or flame, and this remains the core modern meaning. By the Warring States period it extended metaphorically to anger (发火), urgency (火急), and heat or inflammation in Chinese medicine (上火). In modern Mandarin it also picked up the colloquial sense of popular or trending (这首歌很火), a usage that spread widely through internet language in the 2000s.
Cultural note
The four-dot radical 灬 at the bottom of characters like 熊 (bear) and 鱼 in 鱼 dishes often confuses learners because it no longer looks like fire; it is a positional variant of 火 and marks cooking, heat, or animal-related meanings. The compound 火车 (train) literally means fire-cart, a 19th-century coinage from the era of steam locomotives that stuck even after diesel and electric trains replaced them.
Basic info
| Pinyin | huǒ |
| Meanings | fire |
| Radical | 火 (#86: fire) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1 |
| Frequency | #479 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 火
On the new HSK 1 exam
Studying for HSK 1? Keep 火 with the rest of your level.
HSK Lord schedules your reviews so each character comes back right before you would forget it. Free to start, and it picks up where you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Appears in these articles
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.