焚烧

• Pinyin: fén shāo
• Hanzi breakdown: 焚 = 林 + 火 (forest + fire — burning with great intensity); 烧 = 火 + 尧 (fire radical + blazing — to combust, set alight)

Meaning

To burn; to incinerate. The deliberate act of destroying something completely by fire.

More formal and intense than 烧 (to burn). 焚烧 implies deliberate, thorough burning, often for destruction, disposal, or ritual purposes. Commonly used in contexts of waste disposal, historical events (burning books), ceremonial burning, or environmental damage.

Examples

1. 当地政府出台了专项法规，严禁农民在田间焚烧秸秆，以减少大气污染并保护土壤微生物群落。 The local government introduced special regulations strictly banning farmers from burning crop straw in the fields, to reduce air pollution and protect soil microbial communities.
2. 那批机密文件在撤离前被命令就地焚烧，以防止敏感信息落入对方手中。 That batch of classified documents was ordered to be burned on the spot before evacuation, to keep sensitive information from falling into the other side’s hands.
3. 城市垃圾焚烧厂在设计上必须配备先进的尾气净化装置，以确保燃烧过程中产生的有害物质不会对周边居民的健康造成威胁。 In design, a city waste incineration plant must be equipped with advanced exhaust-cleaning systems to ensure harmful substances produced during combustion do not threaten the health of nearby residents.

Usage Guide

Context: environment, history, law, waste-management

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 研究数据显示，露天焚烧农业废弃物是该地区秋季雾霾天气加剧的主要因素之一，相关部门正在加大执法力度以遏制这一现象。(Research data shows that open-air burning of agricultural waste is one of the main factors exacerbating autumn smog in the region; relevant authorities are intensifying enforcement to curb this phenomenon.)
• 历史上，统治者下令焚烧书籍以压制异见的做法不仅未能消灭思想，反而往往激起更强烈的民间反抗与文化保护意识。(Throughout history, rulers who ordered the burning of books to suppress dissent not only failed to eradicate ideas, but often instead provoked stronger popular resistance and awareness of cultural preservation.)

Don't Say

• 焚烧 for cooking — use 烤 or 炒 for cooking methods; 焚烧 strictly refers to destruction or disposal by fire, not culinary heat

Origin & History

焚 = 林 + 火 (forest + fire — to burn a forest; destruction by great fire); 烧 = 火 + 尧 (fire + to blaze) — both components intensify the meaning of burning

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal