rán
burn
Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 然 represents the sound.
Evolution
Bronze script
Early Spring and Autumn (~700 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
rán
burn; light fire, ignite; to burn; to ignite; to light; fig. to spark off (hopes); to start (debate); to raise (hopes)
Sources