激化

jīhuà · HSK 7

intensify

🔥 激 (fierce/intense) + 化 (-ize, turn into) = make fierce -> intensify

化 — person 亻 + spoon/upside-down person 匕
化 is an associative compound showing a standing person 亻 next to 匕, originally a depiction of a person turned upside-down. Together they suggest a figure transforming from one state to another, giving the core meaning 'change' or 'transform'. The character later extended to senses like 'convert', 'influence', and the noun suffix '-ization'.

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