火 (huǒ) is a Chinese character meaning “fire”. It is written from ㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇏ (right-falling stroke), and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “fire”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇔ + ㇒ + ㇒ + ㇏
Overlapping structure
- ㇔ dot stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- ㇏ falling-right stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+706B modern glyph and the standard stroke order for 火 (点 / 撇 / 撇 / 捺, four strokes)
Memory aid
Flick a dot (㇔) high on the left, then a short left-falling stroke (㇒) high on the right — two sparks flying off. Under them, a long left-falling stroke (㇒) and a right-falling stroke (㇏) spread out like the base of a flame.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 火车huǒ chētrain火 = huǒ
- 火山huǒ shānvolcano火 = huǒ
- 扑火pū huǒto fight a fire; to beat out flames火 = huǒ
- 火山岩huǒ shān yánvolcanic rock火 = huǒ
- 火把huǒ bǎtorch火 = huǒspoken ashuó bǎ
- 火灾huǒ zāifire (a destructive fire); blaze火 = huǒ
- 灭火miè huǒto put out a fire; to extinguish a fire火 = huǒ
- 恼火nǎo huǒannoyed; irritated; angry火 = huǒspoken asnáo huǒ
- 火柴huǒ cháimatch (for lighting fire)火 = huǒ
- 火炉huǒ lústove; heating furnace火 = huǒ
- 火炕huǒ kàngheated brick bed (warmed by a fire underneath)火 = huǒ
- 火炬huǒ jùtorch火 = huǒ
- 炭火tàn huǒcharcoal fire火 = huǒ
- 玩火自焚wán huǒ zì fénhe who plays with fire gets burned (idiom)火 = huǒ
- 萤火虫yíng huǒ chóngfirefly火 = huǒ
Go deeper
All readings
fire
fire; flame; anger
物体燃烧时发出的光和焰；也比喻发怒。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 火车huǒ chētrain火 = huǒ
- 火山huǒ shānvolcano火 = huǒ
- 扑火pū huǒto fight a fire; to beat out flames火 = huǒ
- 火山岩huǒ shān yánvolcanic rock火 = huǒ
- 火把huǒ bǎtorch火 = huǒspoken ashuó bǎ
- 火灾huǒ zāifire (a destructive fire); blaze火 = huǒ
- 灭火miè huǒto put out a fire; to extinguish a fire火 = huǒ
- 恼火nǎo huǒannoyed; irritated; angry火 = huǒspoken asnáo huǒ
- 火柴huǒ cháimatch (for lighting fire)火 = huǒ
- 火炉huǒ lústove; heating furnace火 = huǒ
- 火炕huǒ kàngheated brick bed (warmed by a fire underneath)火 = huǒ
- 火炬huǒ jùtorch火 = huǒ
- 炭火tàn huǒcharcoal fire火 = huǒ
- 玩火自焚wán huǒ zì fénhe who plays with fire gets burned (idiom)火 = huǒ
- 萤火虫yíng huǒ chóngfirefly火 = huǒ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 火 mean?
火 (huǒ) means fire; flame; anger.
How do you pronounce 火?
It is pronounced huǒ.
What parts is 火 made of?
㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and ㇏ (right-falling stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+706B modern glyph and the standard stroke order for 火 (点 / 撇 / 撇 / 捺, four strokes). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 火 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 火?
火. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 火?
Common ones are 火车 and 火山. The reading of 火 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.