zào

variant of 灶[zao4]

fire (火) + earth (土) = cooking stove

A cooking stove is built from packed earth and fed by fire — the two elements that define it. The character captures exactly what a traditional Chinese stove is made of and powered by.

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EarthSemantic
FireSemantic

妈妈在前忙着做饭。

māma zài zào qián máng zhe zuò fàn。

Mom is busy cooking in front of the stove.

农村的老用柴火烧,火力很强。

nóngcūn de lǎo zào yòng cháihuǒ shāo,huǒlì hěn qiáng。

The old stove in the countryside burns firewood and has very strong heat.

Words with 灶

重起炉灶

chóng qǐ lú zào

to start over from scratch (idiom)

锅灶

guō zào

stove

开小灶

kāi xiǎo zào

to give preferential treatment

中灶

zhōng zào

mess hall for mid-level cadres

倒灶

dǎo zào

to fall (from power)

分灶吃饭

fēn zào chī fàn

"meals prepared at separate stoves", slogan of the program of fiscal decentralization that began in the 1980s in the PRC

另起炉灶

lìng qǐ lú zào

lit. to set up a separate kitchen (idiom); to start from scratch

吃小灶

chī xiǎo zào

to be given special treatment

大灶

dà zào

large kitchen stove made from bricks or earth

家灶

jiā zào

hearth

小灶

xiǎo zào

mess hall for high-ranking cadres

局灶性

jú zào xìng

(medicine) focal

More characters with 火