noun HSK 2
Traditional 燈
lamp · light · lantern
Meaning
灯 refers to any device that produces light, from traditional oil lamps and lanterns to modern electric lights. It's one of the most common everyday words in Chinese and appears in countless compound words related to lighting.
Usage
Used broadly for all types of lights and lamps. Very common in daily conversation when discussing lighting fixtures, traffic signals, or turning lights on and off. Often combined with other characters to specify the type of light (电灯 electric light, 台灯 desk lamp, etc.).
Examples
- 01请把灯打开，房间太暗了。, .Please turn on the light, the room is too dark.
- 02红绿灯坏了，交通很混乱。, .The traffic light is broken, so the traffic is very chaotic.
Measure words
- 盏一盏灯
- 个两个灯
Common collocations
- 开灯to turn on the light
- 关灯to turn off the light
- 电灯electric light
- 红绿灯traffic light
Antonyms
Origin
The traditional form 燈 is a phonetic-semantic compound with 火 (fire) as the semantic component and 登 (dēng) as the phonetic component, reflecting the original fire-based lighting sources.