miè
détruire; éteindre; exterminer; noyer; éteindre
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这场大火把森林都灭了。
Zhè chǎng dàhuǒ bǎ sēnlín dōu miè le.
The forest was destroyed by the fire.
我们要彻底消灭贫困。
Wǒmen yào chèdǐ xiāomiè pínkùn.
We must completely eliminate poverty.
他把所有的证据都销毁了。
Tā bǎ suǒyǒu de zhèngjù dōu xiāohuǐ le.
He destroyed all the evidence.
生 (shēng)
to be born
存 (cún)
to exist
The Chinese character 灭 (miè) is composed of two parts: 火 (huǒ) and 亡 (wáng). 火 means "fire", and 亡 means "death" or "destruction". Together, they form the character 灭, which means "to extinguish" or "to destroy".The character 灭 first appeared in the oracle bone script, which is the earliest known form of Chinese writing. In the oracle bone script, the character 灭 was written as a combination of the characters 火 and 亡. The character 火 was depicted as a flame, and the character 亡 was depicted as a person falling down. This suggests that the original meaning of 灭 was "to put out a fire by killing the person who started it".Over time, the meaning of 灭 evolved to include a wider range of meanings, such as "to destroy", "to annihilate", and "to exterminate". The character 灭 is also used in a number of idioms and proverbs, such as 灭顶之灾 (mièdǐng zhī zāi), which means "a disaster that destroys everything", and 灭绝人性 (mièjué rénxìng), which means "to be completely devoid of human feeling".The character 灭 is a powerful and evocative character that has a long and rich history. It is a reminder of the destructive power of fire, and of the importance of working together to prevent disasters.
