熄

Phono-semantic compound:

火 (불 화) — semantic, indicates fire, burning, flame

息 (쉴 식) — phonetic, gives the sound xi / sik, also contributes the nuance “to rest, to cease”

Combined meaning:

- “fire (火) that ceases/rests (息).”

- fire going out, flame subsiding.

This makes 熄 a very transparent and natural phono-semantic formation.

In Korean, 熄(식) is used in both literal and figurative Sino-Korean vocabulary.

Literal “extinguish”:

熄火 (식화) — 불이 꺼짐; extinguishing of flames

熄燈 (식등) — 등불을 끄다; turn off lamps/lights (rare; literary)

Figurative “die down; subside”:

息怒不熄 (식노불식) — 분노가 가라앉지 않음; anger not subsiding

戰熄 (전식) — 전쟁이 멎음; war ceasing

息事寧人 — related idiom about “ending conflict,” often explained with 熄的 meanings

Extended metaphorical usage:

熄滅 (식멸) — 소멸함; 사라짐; extinction, disappearance

情熄 (정식) — 감정이 가라앉다; feelings dying out (rare/classical)

Modern Korean mostly uses 소멸, 수그러들다, but classical compounds remain in academic/literary contexts.

Distinction from similar characters:

息 (to rest, breathe) — phonetic in 熄

熔 (melt) — completely different meaning

熬 (to endure, boil)

滅 (to extinguish) — broader meaning than 熄

熄 (subsiding) — is specifically tied to fire or intense emotion

Classical citations:

《楚辭·九章》 (Chu Ci)

「炎火不熄。」

“The blazing fire does not go out” — literal sense of flame extinguishing.

《史記·秦始皇本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「天下之患未熄。」

“The troubles of the realm had not yet died out” — metaphorical usage: unrest continuing.

《後漢書·梁統傳》 (Book of the Later Han Dynasty)

「憤氣未熄。」

“His anger had not yet subsided.”

《文選·陸機〈吊魏武帝文〉》 (Wenxuan, Anthology of Literature)

「國難未熄。」

“The national crisis had not yet come to an end.”