炭 (tàn): wood charcoal, coal
炭 (tàn) is a Chinese character meaning “wood charcoal.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 山 (phonetic) and 灰 (semantic). It ranks #2299 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 炭 ashes. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- wood charcoal
- coal
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 炭疽 | tàn jū | (medicine) anthrax |
| 泥炭 | ní tàn | peat |
| 煤炭 | méi tàn | coal |
| 木炭 | mù tàn | charcoal |
| 活性炭 | huó xìng tàn | activated carbon |
| 雪中送炭 | xuě zhōng sòng tàn | lit. to send charcoal in snowy weather (idiom) |
| 焦炭 | jiāo tàn | coke (processed coal used in blast furnace) |
| 黑炭 | hēi tàn | coal |
| 烧炭 | shāo tàn | to manufacture charcoal |
| 石炭纪 | shí tàn jì | Carboniferous (geological period 354-292m years ago) |
| 生灵涂炭 | shēng líng tú tàn | people are in a terrible situation (idiom) |
| 火炭 | huǒ tàn | live coal |
| 石炭酸 | shí tàn suān | phenol C6H5OH |
| 冰炭不言，冷热自明 | bīng tàn bù yán , lěng rè zì míng | ice or coals, whether hot or cold goes without saying (idiom) |
| 冰炭不相容 | bīng tàn bù xiāng róng | as incompatible or irreconcilable as ice and hot coals |
炭 appears in 32 compound words: 19 as the first character, 53 as the last, and 28 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 炭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
消防员迅速赶到，扑灭了熊熊大炭。
xiāo fáng yuán xùn sù gǎn dào , pū miè le xióng xióng dà tàn .
Firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the blazing fire.
...尸命案 单位传异味消防破门 男女长者疑烧炭不治
. . . shī mìng àn dān wèi chuán yì wèi xiāo fáng pò mén nán nǚ cháng zhě yí shāo tàn bù zhì
...Coroner's Case: Strange Odor Reported at Workplace; Firefighters Break Down Door; Elderly Couple Suspected of Dying from Charcoal Burning
...证券:煤价长期内仍然有上涨的诉求 维持煤炭开采行业“推荐”评级
. . . zhèng quàn : méi jià cháng qī nèi réng rán yǒu shàng zhǎng de sù qiú wéi chí méi tàn kāi cǎi háng yè tuī jiàn píng jí
...Securities: Coal prices are expected to continue rising in the long term; we maintain our "Buy" rating on the coal mining sector
《港楼》火炭星凯堤岸三房1,258万沽 持货不足四年...
gǎng lóu huǒ tàn xīng kǎi dī àn sān fáng 1 , 2 5 8 wàn gū chí huò bù zú sì nián . . .
"Hong Kong Building" Fotan Xingkai Embankment three-bedroom 12.58 million sold for less than four years...
...战冲击台供电 龚明鑫:若拖到4月 全面煤炭发电是最后手段
. . . zhàn chōng jī tái gōng diàn 龚 míng 鑫 : ruò tuō dào 4 yuè quán miàn méi tàn fā diàn shì zuì hòu shǒu duàn
... Gong Mingxin: If it is delayed until April, full-scale coal power generation is the last resort
...ari Izakaya炫技 百变鸡料理“炭”为观止
. . . a r i I z a k a y a xuàn jì bǎi biàn jī liào lǐ tàn wéi guàn zhǐ
... ari Izakaya shows off his skills and cooks a variety of chicken dishes "charcoal" to watch
他的援助真是雪中送炭。
Tā de yuánzhù zhēnshi xuězhōngsòngtàn.
His help has been invaluable.
澳大利亚是世界第五大煤炭产地。
àodàlìyà shì shìjiè dìwǔ dà méitàn chǎndì.
Australia is the world's fifth-largest coal producer.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 炭 (tàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 炭 and 仙?
How many strokes does 炭 have?
What is the radical of 炭?
What are the components of 炭?
What are common words containing 炭?
What characters sound the same as 炭 (tàn)?
Is 炭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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