Definition

1. Verb:
   • To burn (something) completely; to reduce to ashes by fire: The primary meaning is to destroy or transform something through intense fire, often until it is completely consumed.
   • To cremate: Specifically refers to the act of burning a dead body as part of a funeral rite.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ngọn lửa đã thiêu rụi cả khu rừng. (The fire burned down the entire forest.)
  • Theo di nguyện, ông ấy muốn được thiêu sau khi qua đời. (According to his will, he wanted to be cremated after death.)
  • Cơn sốt khiến anh ấy cảm thấy nóng như bị thiêu. (The fever made him feel as hot as if he were burning.)

Advanced Usage

• "thiêu sống": to burn alive.

  • Tội ác thiêu sống người vô tội là không thể chấp nhận được. (The crime of burning innocent people alive is unacceptable.)

• "thiêu hủy": to burn and destroy (often used for documents, evidence, or contaminated items).

  • Các tài liệu mật đã được thiêu hủy. (The secret documents were burned.)

• "nóng như thiêu": (idiomatic simile) as hot as burning; describes intense, scorching heat.

  • Trời mùa hè nóng như thiêu. (The summer weather is scorching hot.)

Variants and Related Words

• Đốt (verb): to burn. This is a more general term, while "thiêu" implies complete consumption or a specific purpose like cremation.
• Hỏa thiêu (verb): a formal/synonymous term for cremation.
• Hỏa táng (verb): the formal term for the act of cremation.
• Thiêu đốt (verb): to burn fiercely; to consume with passion or fire (can be used literally or metaphorically).

Synonyms

• Đốt cháy: to burn.
• Hóa tro: to turn to ashes.
• Hỏa táng: to cremate.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• thiêu rụi: to burn down; to reduce to ashes.
  • Trận cháy đã thiêu rụi ngôi nhà cổ. (The blaze burned down the ancient house.)

Related Idioms

• Lửa thiêu: (literally: burning fire) often used to describe a devastating fire or a metaphor for intense, destructive passion or suffering.
  • Cuộc tình ấy như ngọn lửa thiêu, cháy hết rồi tàn. (That love was like a burning fire, it blazed and then died out.)

verb

1. to burn, to cremate