How to Write 燔 (fán) — Meaning “To burn / To roast”

Imagine a piece of meat (represented by 番, which can look like a square object) placed directly over a fire (火). The character visually shows "fire next to something being roasted," which matches the meaning of burning or roasting.

The left radical 火 should be written narrow and slightly compressed, with the last stroke changing from a dot to a short left-falling stroke. The right side 番 has a balanced structure with a tall top (采-like) and a square field (田) below; common mistakes are making the 田 too wide or the top strokes too large.

燔 (burn/roast) focuses on direct fire damage or cooking, while 煽 (shān, fan/flame) involves stirring up fire or emotions, and 熄 (xī, extinguish) means putting out a fire. Visually, 燔 has the fire radical plus 番, 煽 uses 扇 (fan), and 熄 uses 息 (breath/rest).

燔 is now uncommon in daily speech and appears mainly in formal or ancient texts, such as describing burnt offerings (燔祭) in religious contexts or literary descriptions of fire. It is rarely used in modern conversation, where simpler words like 烧 (shāo) are preferred for "to burn."

Common words containing 燔 include: 燔祭 (fán jì) — Burnt offering / Sacrifice; 燔烧 (fán shāo) — To burn / To set on fire; 燔炙 (fán zhì) — To roast meat.