candle

wax

insect (虫) + past (昔) = wax from a creature

虫 grounds the character in the natural world — wax comes from insects like bees. 昔 lends the sound là and carries no semantic weight here.

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Former timesPhonetic
InsectSemantic

桌上有一根烛,光很柔和。

zhuō shàng yǒu yī gēn là zhú, guāng hěn róu hé。

There is a candle on the table; the light is very soft.

他用把地板擦得很光亮。

tā yòng là bǎ dì bǎn cā de hěn guāng liàng。

He used wax to polish the floor until it was very shiny.

Words with 蜡

蜜蜡

mì là

beeswax

蜡像

là xiàng

waxwork; wax figure

锡蜡

xī là

pewter (alloy of tin 錫|锡, lead 鉛|铅 and other metals)

发蜡

fà là

pomade

黄蜡

huáng là

beeswax

黄颈拟蜡嘴雀

huáng jǐng nǐ là zuǐ què

(bird species of China) collared grosbeak (Mycerobas affinis)

黑尾蜡嘴雀

hēi wěi là zuǐ què

(bird species of China) Chinese grosbeak (Eophona migratoria)

黑头蜡嘴雀

hēi tóu là zuǐ què

(bird species of China) Japanese grosbeak (Eophona personata)

倒吊蜡烛

dào diào là zhú

Wrightia tinctoria (flowering plant in Apocynaceae family, common names dyer's oleander or pala indigo)

吹灯拔蜡

chuī dēng bá là

lit. to blow out the lamp and put out the candle (idiom)

味同嚼蜡

wèi tóng jiáo là

lit. tastes as if one is chewing wax (idiom)

嚼蜡

jiáo là

insipid

More characters with 虫