DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
星星之火,可以燎原
Mandarin · pinyin xīng xing zhī huǒ , kě yǐ liáo yuán
Meanings
- a single spark can start a huge blaze (idiom); an insignificant cause can have a massive effect
Characters in this entry
- 星
- xīng · a star, planet; any point of light; 25th lunar mansion, determinative star α Hydrae (Alphard)
- 之
- zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
- 火
- huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
- 可
- kě · may, can, -able; possibly
- 以
- yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
- 燎
- liáo · liǎo · to burn, set afire; to illuminate; a signal lamp
- 原
- yuán · source, origin, beginning
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.