干燥
gānzào · HSK 7
dry
🏜️ 干燥 = 干 (dry) + 燥 (parched/scorched)
干 means dry on its own; 燥 adds the 火 (fire) radical with 喿 phonetic, intensifying to scorched/parched. Together they reinforce each other — bone-dry, arid.
干 — pictograph of a forked weapon/shield
干 originally depicted a forked wooden weapon or shield used in ancient warfare, giving the early sense of 'to offend' or 'to oppose.' Over time it took on extended meanings like 'to concern' and 'trunk/stem.' In modern simplified Chinese it also absorbed 乾 (dry) and 幹 (to do; trunk), so one character now covers several unrelated words.