萤火

螢火
yínghuǒ
noun #34,028

Meanings

  1. 1 light of a firefly
  2. 2 faint glimmer (figurative)

Examples

Xià yè de cǎocóng lǐ shǎnshuò zhe diǎndiǎn yínghuǒ.
Tiny firefly lights twinkled in the grass on the summer night.
Zài hēi'àn zhōng, tā de xīwàng xiàng yínghuǒ yīyàng wēiruò.
In the darkness, her hope was as faint as a firefly's glow.

Tips

culture
The classic chengyu 囊萤映雪 (náng yíng yìng xuě, 'firefly-bag-on-snow') tells of poor scholars who studied by collecting fireflies in a silk bag ( Che Yin) and reading by snow's reflected light ( Sun Kang) — the firefly is a symbol of perseverance through poverty. Studio Ghibli's 《萤火虫》 (Grave of the Fireflies) uses the same imagery.
usage
萤火 is the light itself; 萤火虫 (yínghuǒchóng) is the firefly insect. Figuratively 萤火 = a small, fragile glimmer of hope or light.

Stroke Order

yíng
huǒ