热衷
rè zhōng · HSK 7
to be fond of
🔥 热 = hot/fever + 衷 = inner heart, so a hot inner heart = burning enthusiasm for something
热衷 stacks 热 (hot, the same heat as 热情 passion) onto 衷 (one's innermost feelings). A heart running hot is the deep, committed fondness this word names. Sound hook: rè zhōng rhymes loosely with the rush of being all-in.
热 — 执 zhí (phonetic) + 灬 fire radical
热 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the bottom 灬 (a variant of 火 'fire') gives the meaning of heat, while 执 on top supplies the sound. Originally written 熱, it depicted fire below a phonetic element, and the meaning naturally extended from physical heat to 'hot' weather and 'enthusiastic' feelings.