狂热
kuáng rè · HSK 7
fanatical
🔥 狂 wild/mad + 热 hot = wild heat, the feverish burn of fanatical zeal
狂 — dog radical 犭+ king 王
Originally written with 犬 (dog) as the semantic component and 㞷 as the phonetic, depicting a wildly running dog. The meaning extended from 'mad dog' to 'crazy, wild, unrestrained' in general. The modern form simplifies the right side to 王.
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.