During the autumn harvest,the grain(禾)ripens under the fiery heat(火)of the sun.Hence:秋,meaning “autumn”.In China,one can see the waste stalks of grain(禾)disposed of by fire(火)after the harvesting and threshing in autumn.

在秋收期间，禾苗在如火的日照下成熟了。“秋”的本义就是禾谷成熟的秋季。秋收和脱粒后，人们可以看到火烧过的谷物的废弃的杆。这是为了增加土壤的养分，为来年的耕种做准备。

其实，以前的“秋”字是“禾苗”的“禾”，加上“乌龟”的“龟”字，“禾”指谷物和收成。“龟”指春耕时烧乌龟壳，来预知秋天的收成，到了秋收，谷物收成是不是像龟卜预言的那样就可以知道了。后来“秋”的右边变成“火”，其实就是烧乌龟壳的火；古代人通过灼烧乌龟壳的裂纹来判断吉凶，最早的甲骨文也是这么来的哦。

The falling of one leaf heralds the autumn

The fall of a single leaf is indicative of the coming of autumn，means from the fall of a leaf，know autumn is coming,for autumn is the season of falling leaves.This idiomis used to mean that through individual subtle signs, we can see the development trend and result of the whole situation.

一叶知秋

一叶知秋，意思是从一片树叶的凋落，知道秋天的到来。比喻通过个别的细微的迹象，可以看到整个形势的发展趋向与结果。

“Analysis of Chinese Characters by bilingual”，is opened for the convenience of Chinese and foreign friends who are interested in Chinese characters. We’ll push a Chinese character every Monday，analyze its origin and related culture. If there is any impropriety，welcome to correct us.

为方便对汉字感兴趣的中国朋友和外国朋友，我们新开设了《双语解字》栏目。每周一推送一个汉字的来历和相关文化，如果其中有不恰当的地方，欢迎中外朋友指正。

character [´kæriktə]   n.特性；性质；人物；字   (初中英语单词)

origin [´ɔridʒin]   n.起源；由来；出身   (初中英语单词)

culture [´kʌltʃə]   n.修养；文化；饲养   (初中英语单词)

convenience [kən´vi:niəns]   n.方便；适当的机会   (高中英语单词)

related [ri´leitid]   a.叙述的；有联系的   (高中英语单词)

indicative [in´dikətiv]   a.指示的；陈述的   (英语六级单词)