不人道 (bù rén dào) — inhuman; cruel | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

adjective

inhumancruel

Examples

不人道。
Zhè zhǒng nüè dài dòng wù de xíng wéi shí zài tài bù rén dào le.
This kind of animal abuse is really inhuman.
不人道。
Zhàn zhēng zhōng duì píng mín de bù rén dào duì dài ràng rén wú fǎ jiē shòu.
The inhuman treatment of civilians during war is unacceptable.
不人道。
Yǒu rén pī píng tā men yòng bù rén dào de fāng fǎ zuò shí yàn.
Some people criticize them for using inhuman methods in their experiments.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

人道human way

人rénhuman道dàoway

偏正Modifier + head

不 'not' with 人 'human' and 道 'way' means not humane.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

行行xíngstreet

止止zhǐfoot

Sound part声符shēngfú

𩠐

首shǒu道dào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Appears in

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