炼

煉
liàn
#1,761 most
frequent character
to refine
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

火 fire, heat is the meaning part; the part 练 without 纟 supplies the sound. It first meant 'smelt metal,' which grew to 'refine' or 'temper.'

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Example Sentences

我们需要炼钢来制造新材料。
wǒmen xūyào liàngāng lái zhìzào xīn cáiliào 。
We need to refine steel to produce new materials.
他正在炼油以提高品质。
tā zhèngzài liàn yóu yǐ tígāo pǐnzhì 。
He is refining oil to improve quality.
炼金术师研究如何炼金。
liànjīnshù shī yánjiū rúhé liànjīn 。
Alchemists study how to refine gold.

Same Characters, Different Readings

炼liàn
to refine

Words with similar meanings

提纯tíchún
to purify
提纯 (to purify) is often used in a chemical context, focusing on making a substance more pure, akin to refining.
精炼jīngliàn
to process
精炼 (to process) implies improving the quality of a substance through refinement, similar to '炼'.

Homophones

练liàn
practice, train
恋liàn
to feel attached to, to long for

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