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Kotomora

燃

burn, blaze, glow

JLPTN2StatusJōyō · grade 5FrequencyTop 1,000Strokes16

Readings

On'yomi

  • ネン

Kun'yomi

  • も.える
  • も.やす
  • も.す

Meaning

燃 centers on fire and its visible effects: burning, blazing, and glowing. All three meanings are direct expressions of something being on fire or radiating heat and light.

Most common words using 燃

20 of 136
  • 燃料ねんりょう
    N1

    fuel

  • 燃えるもえる
    N4

    to burn; to get fired up

  • 燃やすもやす
    N3

    to burn

  • 燃焼ねんしょう
    N1

    burning; combustion

  • 燃費ねんぴ
    N1

    fuel consumption; gas mileage

  • 再燃さいねん

    recurrence; revival; resuscitation

  • 可燃かねん

    inflammable; flammable; combustible; burnable

  • 燃え尽きるもえつきる

    to burn out

  • 燃え上がるもえあがる

    to flare up; to burst into flames

  • 不燃ふねん

    incombustibility

  • 燃え盛るもえさかる

    to blaze; to burn brightly

  • 内燃ないねん

    internal combustion

  • 燃油ねんゆ

    fuel oil; fuel

  • 日本原燃にほんげんねん

    Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.

  • 核燃料かくねんりょう

    nuclear fuel

  • 可燃物かねんぶつ
    N1

    combustibles; inflammables; flammables; burnables

  • 可燃性かねんせい

    combustibility; inflammability

  • 不燃物ふねんぶつ
    N1

    non-inflammables; incombustible (usu. waste)

  • 燃え広がるもえひろがる

    to spread (of flames)

  • 難燃加工なんねんかこう

    fireproof

Explore all words using 燃 →

Study

Etymology

燃 combines 火 (fire) with 然, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of burning or blazing. The modern form is a straightforward phono-semantic compound.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side is fire 火, and the right side 然 looks like a pile of kindling with flames rising. Together they show a fire burning and glowing brightly.

Reading mnemonic

For ネン, imagine a fire burning so intensely that it makes a loud 'nen' sound as it blazes. The crackling 'nen' cues ネン while the flames glow.