专案 (zhuān àn) — special case or incident that requires dedicated investigation; project (esp. in Taiwan usage)

Definition

In mainland Chinese 专案 means a 'special case' opened for dedicated investigation (usually by police or prosecutors). In Taiwan usage it commonly means a 'project' — context will tell you which sense is intended.

noun
special case or incident that requires dedicated investigationproject (esp. in Taiwan usage)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Jǐng fāng chéng lì le zhuān àn zǔ diào chá zhè qǐ àn jiàn.
    The police set up a special task force to investigate this case.
  • 专案。
    Zhè ge zhuān àn de fù zé rén yǐ jīng míng què le.
    The person in charge of this project has already been confirmed.
  • 专案。
    zhuān àn Bào gào zhōng xiáng xì jì lù le diào chá jié guǒ.
    The special case report records the investigation results in detail.

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.

专zhuānspecial
案àncase

专 special and 案 case combine to mean a case set aside for investigation.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 專; 专 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 專 shows 又, a hand, turning 叀, a spindle; this came to mean gathering several things into one.

Open 专 →

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
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
安
安ān案àn
Same sound today

案 pairs 木, a wood/tree shape, with 安, which is used for its sound.

Open 案 →

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