烛 (zhú): candle, (literary) to illuminate
烛 (zhú) is a Chinese character meaning “candle.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 虫 (phonetic). It ranks #2444 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 烛 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- candle
- (literary) to illuminate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 烛 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 蜡烛 | là zhú | candle |
| 烛光 | zhú guāng | candle light |
| 烛台 | zhú tái | candlestick |
| 洞房花烛 | dòng fáng huā zhú | bridal room and ornamented candles |
| 风烛残年 | fēng zhú cán nián | one's late days |
| 香烛 | xiāng zhú | joss stick and candle |
| 花烛 | huā zhú | wedding candles |
| 火烛 | huǒ zhú | fire and candles |
| 风中之烛 | fēng zhōng zhī zhú | lit. candle in the wind (idiom) |
| 蜡烛不点不亮 | là zhú bù diǎn bù liàng | some people have to be pushed for them to take action |
| 洞房花烛夜 | dòng fáng huā zhú yè | wedding night |
| 风中烛，瓦上霜 | fēng zhōng zhú , wǎ shàng shuāng | lit. like a candle in the wind, or frost on the roof (idiom) |
| 蜡烛两头烧 | là zhú liǎng tóu shāo | to burn the candle at both ends (idiom) |
| 圣烛节 | shèng zhú jié | Candlemas (Christian Festival on 2nd February) |
| 烛火 | zhú huǒ | candle flame |
烛 appears in 21 compound words: 24 as the first character, 48 as the last, and 29 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 烛 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
冬天里，一家人围坐在炉烛旁取暖聊天。
dōng tiān lǐ , yī jiā rén wéi zuò zài lú zhú páng qǔ nuǎn liáo tiān .
In winter, the family gathers around the stove and candles to keep warm and chat.
祭扫场所严禁点燃香烛、燃放鞭炮等 北京发布清明文明祭扫事宜-...
jì sǎo chǎng suǒ yán jīn diǎn rán xiāng zhú , rán fàng biān pào děng běi jīng fā bù qīng míng wén míng jì sǎo shì yí . . .
Lighting incense, candles, and setting off firecrackers are strictly prohibited at memorial sites. Beijing Issues Guidelines for Civilized Qingming Memorial Activities...
快讯/基隆民宅烈焰冲天!独居男疑点蜡烛酿灾背部烧伤
kuài xùn jī lóng mín zhái liè yàn chōng tiān ! dú jū nán yí diǎn là zhú niàng zāi bèi bù shāo shāng
Breaking News: Blaze Rages at Keelung Home! Man Living Alone Suspected of Causing Fire by Lighting Candle; Suffers Burns to Back
许个愿，然后吹熄蜡烛吧。
Xǔ gè yuàn, ránhòu chuīxī làzhú ba.
Make a wish and blow out the candles.
蜡烛没有了芯，就不能算是蜡烛了。
Làzhú méiyǒu le xīn, jiù bù néng suànshì làzhú le.
A candle without a wick is no candle at all.
蜡烛出去，而不必被扑灭。
Làzhú chūqù, ér bù bì bèi pūmiè.
The candle went out instead of having been put out.
汤姆吹灭了蛋糕上的所有蜡烛。
Tāngmǔ chuī miè le dàngāo shàng de suǒyǒu làzhú.
Tom blew out all the candles on the cake.
你记得自己该买蜡烛吗？
Nǐ jìde zìjǐ gāi mǎi làzhú ma?
Did you remember that you were supposed to buy candles?
母亲在我的生日蛋糕上插上了十三枝蜡烛。
Mǔqīn zài wǒ de shēngrì dàngāo shàng chāshang le shísān zhī làzhú.
My mother put thirteen candles on my birthday cake.
电使蜡烛在我们的生活中变得没什么用了。
Diàn shǐ làzhú zài wǒmen de shēnghuó zhōng biànde méishénme yòng le.
Electricity made candles of little use in our life.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 烛 (zhú) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 烛 and 融?
How many strokes does 烛 have?
What is the radical of 烛?
What are the components of 烛?
What are common words containing 烛?
What characters sound the same as 烛 (zhú)?
Is 烛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 烛 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.